For the Pahrump Valley High School Class of 2021, Friday evening’s commencement ceremony is now a fond memory.
More than 260 seniors made the walk to mark the largest graduation class in school history.
One such student was Miryam Aguilar who said she was both nervous and excited about taking the next step in her life.
Aguilar, a member of the PVHS National Honor Society, and senior class officer, attended Hafen Elementary School in Pahrump years back.
“It all just seemed to go by so quickly and it doesn’t feel real at all, because it feels surreal,” Aguilar said. “I will definitely miss playing sports with everyone and getting to see everyone every day, especially with moving on with our careers and figuring out what we want to do with our lives.”
Aguilar also spoke about her post-high school plans in terms of her career choice, noting that Advanced Placement Government was one of her favorite classes.
“I’m going to start off in community college and then I want to go to a university to study veterinary science,” she said. “My favorite class was definitely AP government. Mrs. Martin has made every single moment of this year incredible, especially with the pandemic.”
Classmate Noemi Maldonado, also a member of the National Honor Society, as well as senior class officer, said she is definitely ready to move on to the next stage of her life.
“I feel so relieved, like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders,” she said. “Honestly, I’m ready to move on to the next stage of my life,” she said. “For sure I will miss going on outings with my friends. We would usually go on coffee trips or maybe shopping trips around town. So for sure, I will miss that.”
Regarding her college plans, Maldonado said she will attend Washington State University to study biology.
Moreover, Maldonado noted that Student Council Government was tops among her favorite studies at PVHS.
“I ended up joining this year because a lot of other students didn’t have the opportunity to come to school this year,” she said. Fortunately I did, so I tried to dedicate some of my time just to the community. As far as my grades overall, I struggled a bit, but I definitely picked them up.”
Principal George Campnell, who provided the welcoming and closing remarks, along with leading the students in the tradition of the turning of the tassels, noted that earlier this year he wasn’t quite certain whether the school would hold a conventional, and time-honored graduation ceremony due to the pandemic.
“Back in February, I wouldn’t have dreamed that we would have had the opportunity to have a traditional graduation,” he recalled. “But as COVID-19 restrictions started to relax, we started talking about doing it, and the closer we got, the more restrictions that were loosened and we were able for the most part to have a fully traditional graduation ceremony.”
Campbell also gave high praise to all of the faculty members who scrambled to do the necessary work in order to hold this year’s commencement ceremony at the school.
“They did a phenomenal job on short notice,” he said. “They just put in extra hours, hard work and I really want to give those folks credit, especially Jennifer Shockley, for getting this organized.
“This was the largest graduating class, so we set the record this year, and we are very proud of that, considering that we survived this pandemic and our staff and students buckled down and they really came through with flying colors.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes