With students dressed in regal gowns for ceremonies and family and friends attending to share the joy, graduation season has returned to South Orange County.
The private schools in San Juan Capistrano are no different, with St. Margaret’s Episcopal School having hosted a baccalaureate ceremony for the Class of 2023 on Friday, June 2. A graduation ceremony was held the next day on Saturday, June 3.
Students walked onto the school field for Friday’s ceremony in white gowns, prayed along with school and religious leadership, and smiled as loved ones recorded the moments on their phones.
“Tonight is a time to reflect on your incredible journey through St. Margaret’s and to offer thanks and final blessings on our time together,” Head of School William Moseley said.
Class of 2023 Valedictorian Kian Vargo said graduation is a “huge accomplishment,” particularly given the COVID-19 pandemic. While Vargo’s academic accomplishments were lauded by school faculty, Vargo himself noted he initially struggled in math during his first year at school.
“Picture a sixth-grade Kian with braces, glasses, and a backpack so big it almost looked like I would fall over,” Vargo said. “It got so bad that when I got my first B, I was doing a victory lap around the math class.”
Vargo used his experience overcoming challenges doing algebra as an example of how the Class of 2023 generally “conquered immense adversity.”
“When COVID first happened, I remembered everyone assuming we would be back after spring break, with a few weeks quickly turning into a few months—which turned into a whole semester of us attending school from our desks at home,” Vargo said. “From doing chemistry labs using tiny vials of vinegar and baking soda given to us by teachers, to simply waking up and rolling out of bed and logging onto Zoom for the next six hours, the end of our freshman year was anything but normal.”
St. Margaret’s graduates developed an increased sense of responsibility and independence that will serve them well in the future, he said.
“Seeing the immense success of our class, in both athletics and academics, it is clear that everyone’s ability to adapt and overcome the unique challenges of COVID helped us to get ahead,” Vargo said. “Whether it was figuring out creative ways to practice lacrosse or soccer without coaches and teammates, or trying to teach ourselves a subject that we missed two weeks of because we were quarantined, our college really can’t be that much more challenging.”
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