Family and friends gathered at the Olympic High School graduation ceremony June 12 to celebrate the class of 2025.

The ceremony featured speeches from Valedictorians Ashlyn Ellis, Nadiia Mytiv, and Naomi King, each offering different perspectives on their high school tenures and how to approach the future in their speeches.

“Every mistake you have made, no matter how corny it may be, has truly taught you to attain something even greater than before,” Ellis said in her speech. “Our faults and flaws will never cease to exist and will continue well into our future.”

Ellis conveyed to her classmates a message of allowing yourself to not strive for perfection, knowing that perfection is something that no one can achieve. Ellis also noted in her speech that she had “missed out” on so much simply by being afraid to put herself out there or making a bad impression on someone.

Mytiv expressed the notion of not knowing what comes next in her speech.

“Most of us are still undecided about our future career goals and even majors,” Mytiv said. “For those that go to college, it’s already overwhelming enough, but sitting here in our caps and gowns puts extra pressure on and makes us feel like we need to know exactly who we are and who we want to be.”

In her speech, King discussed how it’s been difficult to deal with the recent death of her grandmother.

“Since her death, I’ve struggled to find a sense of meaning in my life,” King said. “She meant so much to me, and now she’s gone.”

She ended her speech telling her classmates that life is not meaningless and that when the graduates leave the ceremony, they will be starting a new chapter in their lives.

“Some of us are going into the workforce,” King said. “Others will go to college. Whatever it is we do, we must look forward, we must live our lives with intention and purpose, focusing on the things that truly matter.”