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Fairfield Ludlowe Grads Ready To Take Charge

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Wearing dark sunglasses and a bright green lei, Fairfield Ludlowe graduate Carl Andren looked ready for a beach party during Thursday night's graduation ceremony despite the gray clouds that loomed outside.

Andren was among the 338 seniors who received their diplomas during the school's sixth commencement ceremony — an achievement class valedictorian Hayley Lynch said will change their lives.

"In a way, our lives up until this point have been laid out, pretty much in black and white," said Lynch. "Our classes have been mapped out, our extracurriculars scheduled to a tee, and most other processes laid out in a formula to get us from Point A to Point B. It's predictable, safe, neat."

But now, as graduates, Lynch said they will move away from that simple black and white world into an area of gray, where there are an infinite number of ways to get from Point A to Point B and where the students will not always know what Point B will be.

During this new chapter, Lynch said they will all experience failures along the way. But in the words of Winston Churchill, she told her classmates "failure is not fatal."

"We can't be afraid to fail because now is the time for us to see what's out there, weigh our options and try new things, until we feel something click," Lynch said.

As they move forward into the unexpected, Lynch told her classmates to remember all the lessons they have learned at Ludlowe. She closed with a quote from the popular TV sitcom "Modern Family."

"Don't stop believing and let's get this party started," Lynch said to an eruption of applause and cheers.

Salutatorian Jennifer Cardona offered the Class of 2011 a few more tips for navigating life after high school. Among them, she advised her classmates to always stand up straight, start each day with a nutritious breakfast and most importantly, to "kick adversity in the face."

Did your child graduate from Fairfield Ludlowe Thursday? What's next for him or her?

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