All the world's their new stage
AHS graduates offered over $4.5M in scholarships
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

The valedictorian of Allentown High School's class of 2007 urged her fellow graduates to be the playwrights of their own lives.

Sarah Terry, who will attend New York's Columbia University in the fall, related the message to her classmates during the speech she gave at the June 20 commencement ceremony held at The College of New Jersey's field house in Ewing.

Terry also quoted Act 2, Scene 6 of Shakespeare's "As You Like It," and said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

She said that she does not contest that the world is a stage.

"Not only is it that, but it is a stage in a theater that plays to a packed house at every performance, even the Wednesday matinees," she said. "But to say that the people in this outrageous show, this ongoing extravaganza that is life, are merely players? That is where I must protest."

Terry said that no one should lead a life like a puppet on strings, with assigned entrances, lines and exits.

PHOTOSBY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, members of Allentown High School's senior choir perform during graduation at The College of New Jersey field house on June 20. At left, senior class president Makenzie Lamb hangs out with friends and fellow graduates before graduation starts.

"We are not merely the players," she said. "We are the playwrights as well."

Terry told those in attendance that everyone has the power to fulfill their goals, desires and dreams.

"This is the role of a lifetime, and it is a live performance, with no second chances," she said. "There may be times when we miss a line, times when we have to improve, but we must always have the courage to move our plot forward in the direction we know is right."

Terry advised her fellow "playwrights" that when writing their scripts, it is most important to love the characters they are playing.

"In this world today, sometimes the greatest challenge is simply being yourself, but it is, in all cases, at all times, worth the effort," she said.

She continued, "There will be people who try to define you and put you in a box with a neat label fixed to the outside. There are prejudices everywhere, against people from all walks of life, for all different reasons, but remember that they are not solid walls. The door may be hard to see, but there is always a way through if you are strong enough to find it."

Terry told the graduates to be the eccentric, unique characters they were born to be and not to waste "valuable stage time pretending to be someone else."

Salutatorian Karyn Sulit, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, recalled in her speech studying John Donne's poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" in an Advanced Placement English class.

In the poem, Donne compares his relationship to a compass, telling his lover that no matter how far they may be from each other, they will always be connected.

"I feel the same about Allentown," Sulit said. "For the past four years, or perhaps less for some, we have been here at Allentown, interacting with each other, learning from each other, making an impression on each other. Wherever we are destined to go from here, we will each always be connected to each other and to Allentown High School."

Sulit said Allentown provided the graduates with a strong foundation upon which to build promising futures.

In her speech, the salutatorian also recounted telling her history class that a student's education is worth over $10,000 a year, to which teacher Warren Gessmann replied, "Did you get your $10,000 worth?" Sulit said she knows that she did.

"I believe that we all have, and that it is now up to each individual to take all that we have learned and apply it, move forward in life, become successful, and while doing so, help our fellow human beings," she said.

Sulit said it is now her generation's turn to take on the challenges and to experience the adventures.

"In pursuing our limitless possibilities, daunting challenges will inevitably present themselves," she said. "However, if we relish the adventure, we will be able to overcome the challenges, not only as individuals, but as a class and as a generation."

Sulit said that she believes that there is so much potential among her fellow graduates that she has no doubt that each will find success.

Allentown High School Principal Christopher Nagy commended the students for their speeches and said they reflected the caliber of students at Allentown High School.

"Our salutatorian, Karyn Sulit, and valedictorian, Sarah Terry, are going to Ivy League schools and will represent the high school very well," he said.

The principal also had kind words for the senior members of the high school's choir.

"[They] did a particularly outstanding job with the anthem and the senior song," he said.

During the ceremony, the class of 2007's secretary, Jeffrey Dumich, and treasurer, Margaret Fisher, presented Nagy with a monetary gift on behalf of their class. The money, which is expected to total about $6,000, will be used to help upgrade the sound system at the high school.

"That is awe-inspiring and a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the class of 2007," he said.

During graduation, Nagy announced that the class of 2007 received more than $4.6 million in scholarship money. He later explained that the total was calculated from what colleges and universities had offered to students.

"The scholarships can be attributed to a number of factors, such as the work that the guidance department does to promote relationships with college personnel throughout the country to market our students, the proactive involvement of parents in the college search and funding process, the willingness of students to help their cause and to seek scholarships at respective schools based on scholarship, athletic interests and financial need," he said.