SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - The pursuit of goals and striving to do your best were among the themes Friday of Schuylkill Haven Area High School's graduation ceremony.
Commencement for the 100 seniors of the Class of 2014 began at 7:30 p.m. at Rotary Field.
Memories were shared about time spent at the school and advice was given to the graduates as they continue on their journey after high school.
Salutatorian Kyle McGarry, who is also the senior class president, told the graduates they got to this point in their lives because of effort.
"Your own hard work and perseverance put you where you are tonight and will slingshot you into the future," he said.
During his salutatorian speech, he told the students to not forget the high school and lessons they learned there. He acknowledged the role parents and teachers had in helping the students become the people they are today.
He urged the graduates to fall in love.
"Fall in love with a person. Fall in love with a hobby. Fall in love with college or a group of friends. Fall in love with an experience, a job, an idea, a place, a goal. Fall in love with a purpose. Fall in love with something and in that something, you'll find your future," he said.
Valedictorian Joshua Mairose told the seniors to be happy.
"Today is a day to rejoice," he said.
He also urged the class to do their best in life.
"Please do not float through life and do just enough to get by. You're all so much better than that. After tonight, I want each of you to go out in the world, find a passion or a goal and work as hard as you can to achieve it. I leave you with this, a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, "What lies behind us. What lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us," Mairose said.
Superintendent Lorraine Felker told the graduates to "go out into the world and show them everything you can do."
The guest speaker for the commencement ceremony was Lt. Col. Howard "Chip" Hall, a U.S. Marine and a 1988 graduate of the school.
"There is certainly a lot to celebrate tonight," he said.
Students should be proud of what they have accomplished, Hall said.
He provided many words of advice for the graduates. Among them, he said "success comes only through hard work and steadfast dedication to ideals" and "mistakes will happen. Get use to it. Life is not about the mistakes we make, but how we react to them."
He said life is not always fair and circumstances are not always the way you want them to be. However, you can act to improve them.
"Making a difference starts with just one person, and that one person is you," Hall said.