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Nearly 200 students walked through the doors of Iona College gymnasium Thursday evening and less than an hour later walked out with their high school diplomas.
Iona Preparatory School said farewell to its students at a boisterous graduation ceremony Thursday night. One-hundred seventy-two students who attended Iona Prep graduated the private Catholic high school. Many were accepted to top-level colleges and universities across the nation, including Harvard, Columbia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It was business from the start, a quick procession, national anthem, and opening prayer couldnt hold back the eagerness to award the diplomas. Shouts of excitement could be heard intermittently by families of some students. Each of the graduates took to the gold and crimson stage.
From the moment Iona Prep Principal Maureen Kiers took the podium, the auditorium writhed with shouts and huzzahs. Kiers, whose statement was brief, awarded each diploma with the help of School President Brother Thomas Leto. In a brief respite, the names were read, followed with thunderous applause. This continued until all the gold-and-crimson robed men had approached the stage and received their ticket to adulthood.
The class of 2011s valedictorian, Areza Sumitro, addressed the audience after the awarding of the degrees. Sumitro will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Fall
For every door that closes, another one opens, said Sumitro. The coming years will be some of the best of our lives.
My friends, we made it. Congratulations, said Sumitro, who received a foot-stomping, walls-shaking standing ovation at the end of his speech.
Thursdays performance marked the 92nd graduating class from Iona Prep. Kiers was tearful in her closing remarks, taking long pauses before she could muster up the voice to continue.
To reach the heart of Iona is to reach something eternal, she said.
Sumitro said after the event that the evening and its meaning was still sinking in for him.
"It feels unbelievable, he said. Four years ago, I couldn't imagine this and four years later I still can't believe it."
Correction 6 June 2011: Fixed Brother Thomas Leto's title.
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