Moorestown High School celebrated the graduates of the senior class of 2015 on Thursday, June 18 at the MHS stadium. Three hundred and thirty seniors in cap and gown took their final steps as high school students and began new steps to their next journey in life.
On that day, students, administrators, families and friends were addressed by class of 2015 valedictorian Saylor Brisson and salutatorian Olivia Saouaf, giving hope and inspiration to the class of 2015 for the future.
The Sun took some time to speak to Brisson and Saouaf on graduating, their speeches, their future goals, memories and more:
The Sun: How do you feel about graduating?
Brisson: I mean, it is very sad. It’s like we’re moving onto a new era of our lives. It is bitter sweet because we’re really excited to be going on to college and everything new that experience has to offer, but it’s really sad that we’re not going to be seeing our best friends since kindergarten like we’ve been seeing them every single day.
Saouaf: I feel like it hasn’t really hit me yet. I’m still seeing everybody, but I guess once we graduate I’m going to be like, “Oh… I’m not going to school every day.”
Brisson: I think I’m going to sob at Project Graduation. (laughing)
The Sun: Do you know anything that is going to be happening at Project Graduation?
Brisson: No! It’s a secret.
Saouaf: I like it like that, though. It’s more fun if it is a surprise.
The Sun: How do you feel about being named valedictorian?
Brisson: It’s really exciting. It is nice to know that all four years of my hard work have paid off.
The Sun: How do you feel about being named salutatorian?
Saouaf: I have been working really hard, so it is nice to have that. But, it is also nice that we’re a part of everything, too, and everybody else has done a great job as well.
The Sun: Where are you going to college and what are you majoring in?
Brisson: Stanford University and I’m planning on majoring in aerospace engineering.
The Sun: Do you have a specific job in mind?
Brisson: Well, my dream job would be working at NASA, but we’ll see where it takes me.
Saouaf: I am going to MIT and I am planning to study chemical engineering. I want to do research, but I’m not sure what for yet.
The Sun: What is a favorite memory you have that you want to highlight?
Brisson: I guess one of the most recent memories was on Friday, it was kind of our senior prank day. A lot of kids came up with some fun pranks to do throughout the day. Someone in our class brought a big boom box and played music all throughout the day. We had impromptu ChaCha Slides and the Cupid Shuffle. Also, someone got the idea to hire a clown and have them follow our assistant principal Mr. (Donnie) Williams. That was pretty funny.
Saouaf: He was a good sport about it.
Brisson: What else? Oh, we had a pillow fight in the gym in between periods.
Saouaf: And there was a three-legged race they had in the hallway as well.
Brisson: Right! Then at the end of the day, people brought out their pickup trucks, with coolers of drinks and lawn games, and we had a tailgate. Mr. Softee came and I think Project Graduation bought us all ice cream, so that was really nice. It was just a really good way to end the year.
Saouaf: All of those final things (were my favorite). We had our final show for the musical, that is always fun and other stuff like that. I was Guard One and a dancer.
Brisson: Olivia is really good at dancing.
The Sun: Can you tell me a little about your speech?
Brisson: I am hoping to reflect a little bit on what our year has been like and then also try to give a little inspiration for the future, get people excited about what they will be able to do as they move on to the next part of their life.
Saouaf: Our class has a very unique personality, and I’d like to talk about different things that we have done that make our class very unique.
The Sun: Would you mind giving an example of one?
Saouaf: Definitely the Senior Day activities that we just had, still working on specifics.
The Sun: What kind of message do you want to leave your fellow graduates with?
Brisson: I would say just to always look fondly on their time here at MHS. High school is a really special and unique experience. But also to feel confident in themselves and use what they’ve learned in college, or their jobs, or whatever they’ll be doing with the rest of their lives. Because I think Moorestown does a great job of preparing everyone for success.
Saouaf: That was most of mine! Be confident in themselves because they’ve done so many amazing things up to this point that will carry over. They’ll be able to accomplish much more in college and beyond.
Brisson: We love MHS!
Saouaf: Congratulations 2015!
