Miss Isis Harvey and Mr. Warren Cassell Jr. are 2014/15 valedictorians of the Montserrat Secondary School
For the first time in ten years, two students have been selected as valedictorians of the Montserrat Secondary School (MSS). Miss Isis Harvey and Mr. Warren Cassell Jr., both tied with the highest grades after the school’s final exams. Speaking during the school’s speech day exercise on Wednesday, the valedictorians both issued challenges to their peers.
Warren, using the analogy of a multiple choice test advised graduates to carefully consider all alternatives in life before making a final decision:
“Everything you deal with in life,” he said, “ will be a compounded series of choices that will ultimately reflect the score of whatever you’re dealing with.”
“In life, there are many questions. For example, should I go straight into sixth form or does it make sense for me to work for tuition money first? Are opportunities better elsewhere than in Montserrat or is it worth pursuing a degree in a subject that I am passionate about over something that can guarantee my job after school?
“With all the options, sometimes none of them or only some of them are right. And a multiple choice test becomes a great analogy. Additionally, every decision you make will have consequences. When you take a multiple choice test, that’s exactly what comes into play. Oftentimes, the questions that life presents us are linked to each other. For example ‘A’ may not be as good as answer ‘B’ and ‘C’ is definitely wrong, though ‘D’ is closer.
“The truth is not always in black and white and some are even grey.”
Warren took the opportunity to thank, “especially my parents Cleo and Warren, “who instilled solid values in me that I will take with me wherever I go;” thanking also, “numerous friends who have supported me throughout my life.”
He also thanked his teachers. “To our teachers, there is no doubt in my mind that without you we would not have achieved all that we have to date. On behalf of the entire graduating class I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all members of staff. Thank you supporting, encouraging and disciplining us over the last five years,” he addressed his fellow graduants.
Isis at her turn, described the 2015 cohort as warriors who have overcome many obstacles throughout their high school journey:
“There were times when we all, whether we want to admit it or not, wanted to give up,” she said, “whether it was the day before our first end-of-year exam or the morning of the chemistry quiz we knew we should have studying for all week but instead decided to give in to procrastination.
“There were social issues that everyone had to deal with, whether it was losing friends or trying to separate ourselves from those that we knew only brought us down. Some of us may have had issues in the household or even internal issues that we had to push through. But what did we do? We fought through them. Throughout my secondary school life, one of the things I think we have learned from each other is that we can make it if we try. Class of 2015, it’s never too late to put your foot down and decide that you want to make something out of your life. We are all warriors and although this is the end of our secondary school life, when one door closes another one opens. This is not the end but the beginning of something bigger.”
There were fifty-seven (57) students graduating from the Montserrat Secondary School on Wednesday. They with parents and friends and other school members who listened to a what was considered a more brief than normal report of the past school year by Mrs. Cherlyn Hogan, princial; and a feature address delivered by Mrs. Delmaude Ryan, Minister of Education, Health and Community services.
There were the usual graduation exercises, giving of awards and prizes etc.
