June 17, 2005

Evergreen Valley seniors celebrate first graduation in school’s history

By Julia Lam
Special to the Times

Editor’s Note: This valedictory address delivered June 7 provides a fly-on-the-wall glimpse of the trials and tribulations of the first 290 students graduating from Evergreen Valley High School—originally built on a small school concept and swelling to about 2,400 students next year.

There are stories that ought never be forgotten, no matter how difficult or unlikely. Stories that ought never be hidden away, no matter how provoking or tumultuous. Stories that above all else, reveal truth about our deepest selves.

So this is our story. It’s a kaleidoscope of ups and downs, reaching and back stepping, falling down and getting up—a flurry of form, space and flux structured only in the most abstract sense of the word.

This is our backdrop: A historic first semester in a scattered pool of grubby trailers. The first steps onto a glorious new campus, all fresh paint, earth-tone stucco and unfinished details.

Within it, four small schools: hackers and slackers, movers and shakers, artsy-fartsy romantics and hip hopping, break-dancing rebels. Then one, all of us shaken up, swirled and blended.

And this is our coming of age, as both trailblazers and guinea pigs: A first-ever touchdown, a first-ever slam-dunk and a first-ever win in the racing pool. Surfing the Internet during English or sociology or physiology. The fire alarm blaring because someone burnt popcorn again.

An unbelievably sweet victory in Battle of the Classes with the help of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Partying like there’s no tomorrow at senior ball, then sitting down to find fish in the punch.

Twenty-first century college letters—learning your fate not from the size of an envelope, but from the size of an e-mail. Learning to be young scholars. Never abiding by any rule without first questioning, challenging and testing.

And here, now, blinking in the sunlight, sweating, smelling a neighbor’s sweat, maybe being bored to tears because all these people up here on stage just refuse to shut up. Or maybe reflecting, remembering, smiling at a friend, crying a little—and wanting to reach out and grasp this sun-kissed moment and lock it within your heart, because right here, right now this is forever.

Today we stand on the brink of something vastly different from what we began with four years ago—a vision that brimmed with ambition. Within those three years, we undertook more, experienced more, endured more and, in doing so, learned more than perhaps any other high school class in history.

At the age of 17 or 18, we have managed to accomplish what some people spend their whole lives trying to do—acknowledging change, accepting its inevitability and standing up to face the world anyway. In other words, somehow, somewhere along the way, we’ve managed to grow up.

And now, I think I begin to understand. Believing you have something new to offer the world demands a certain audacity, pluck and faith in the intangible. All too often, accepting the status quo is too comforting a prospect. Even those who see the flaws in a system fail to ever challenge it. And so, sometimes, whether or not a dream is realized as it was conceived is secondary to the fact that it was voiced at all.

You see the key to looking at a kaleidoscope is seeing the pattern: Fusing unlike parts into a whole, picking up the pieces—no matter how finely shattered, how widely strewn—and building something from shards of color and dust.
The key is remembering that the story is never over. The key is having the resolve to begin again.

So this is our story. The ending I leave to you to write. And live.

To the class of 2005—to the first-ever graduating class at Evergreen Valley High School– congratulations, best wishes and farewell.

Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your lives.

Julia Lam was one of six Evergreen Valley High School valedictorians. She will be attending Harvard University this fall.

Heidi Cung
EVHS Valedictorian

Heidi Cung plans to attend the UC San Diego to study pharmacological chemistry. She looks forward to experiencing the ultimate test of independence, meeting new people and forming new friendships.

“In addition to earning a degree, I would like to have established a sense of self-reliance upon graduating from college,” says Cung.

Greatest mentor: David Fanciullo guided me through countless obstacles and inspired me to never give up in anything I did.

Favorite high school memory: Racing with Alex through multiple-choice problems in fourth period calculus, because you just don’t find a friend like that anywhere else.

Julia Lam
EVHS Valedictorian

Julia Lam will be heading to Harvard University in the fall, where she tentatively plans to focus on American history, English or government.

She looks forward to “the people, the classes, the campus, the environment, the traditions, and the new experiences and adventures—just about everything but the weather!”

When she graduates from college, she’d like to “have made the most of the opportunities that came my way, and to have made everyone at home proud of me.”

Greatest mentor: Everyone at Evergreen, for helping to keep me off the streets and interested in school.

Favorite high school memory: Winning the girls’ swimming Santa Teresa league championship and making it to CCS—a fantastic conclusion to our season and my high school athletic experience.

Tammy Hu
EVHS Valedictorian

Tammy Hu will attend UCLA in the fall. She’s currently undeclared, but plans to study within the area of social sciences.

“I am most looking forward to being independent and living on my own in college,” said Hu. “I would like to have mastered a language besides English and Cantonese.”

Greatest mentors: My parents, my Aunt Jean and my teachers, because they were always there to support me and give me advice. If my parents weren’t there constantly keeping a close eye on my grades, I would have never been able to achieve the things I did. My aunt was always there to help me with my chores and lighten my load on many of my tasks. My teachers were also there teaching me all the things I needed to learn, expanding my knowledge and preparing me for greater things.

Favorite high school memory: Hosting a film festival at my school that my friends and I started and planned for months. It was successful, and we were pleased with the turn out of participants and viewers.

Joyce Lee
EVHS Valedictorian

Joyce Lee plans to study nutritional science at UC Berkeley in the fall.

“Besides being on my own and seeing how well I can handle myself, I can’t wait to see and be part of the life at Berkeley,” says Lee. After college, “I hope I do everything I want and have little or no regrets. And maybe actually learn something and retain it!” she adds.

Greatest mentor: My mentors were my teachers—Susie Martin, Helen Aguilar-Williams and Thinh Nguyen—who never denied helping me and kept things realistic.

Favorite high school memory: EVHS the first year it opened. So many things happened that year—from portables to laptops we could take home to Battle of the Small Schools. I’ve never gotten so close to a group of people—my peers, my teachers and my principal.

Jessica Nguyen
EVHS Valedictorian

Jessica Nguyen plans to attend the UC San Diego in the fall.

“ In college, I await the once-in-a-lifetime experiences and the diversity of the people you meet,” says Cung.

“Eventually in my lifetime, I would like to establish a nonprofit organization.”

Greatest mentor: My parents and siblings. My parents always inspired me to go outside the typical high school academic experience to expose myself to the bigger picture in this world, humanity. They are my best friends, giving me more than I ever needed or wanted, for that, I love them with all my being. Buddha blesses you.

Favorite high school memory: The Interact Club, which I co-founded with my sister Christine. Whether it was organizing the first ever Film Theory & Interact Film Festival at EVHS with our friends, performing as a “rock” band at a senior-assisted living home or learning to sell lemonade to benefit cancer research at a Day in the Park with “stormy” weather, I learned about the true meaning of service. I enjoyed the companionship with my friends and found my passion, the reason why I loved my high school experience.

Kelly Shu
EVHS Valedictorian

Kelly Shu will be entering UCLA in the fall on a four-year Regents Scholarship, which provides almost full tuition to about 100 of the 700 - 800 students invited to apply for it. To keep the four-year scholarship, Regents students must meet specific conditions like maintaining a 3.0 GPA.

A National Merit Scholarship finalist, Shu plans to major in business-economics, but will be keeping her eyes open for other majors. She’s looking forward to “dorm life, meeting and greeting new people, hanging out on the beach and taking classes that stimulate my mind.”

Besides acquiring academic knowledge, she hopes to grow up after college and “to be proud of who I am and every decision I make.”

Greatest mentors: In a whirlwind of uncertainty starting a new school, Susie Martin—my world history teacher and club faculty advisor—was my anchor against the current. She taught me generosity, kindness, love and that teachers are often experts on more than just academics.

Through every misstep and error, my parents have been with me all the way. They are still in the process of teaching me that every choice I make affects many people, especially myself, and to think about consequences before I commit any actions. No matter what they believe, I want to always be able to learn from them.

Favorite high school memory: Battle of the Schools! Sophomore year, the school of Human Performance was almost disqualified during the contest because its sound system did not work. I remember everyone cried because we had all worked so hard, until someone found an alternate system. Cheering, we commenced to perform, and even though we placed third, it was a sweet comeback.