Grads’ parting words

  • Herald staff
  • Thursday, June 23, 2011 12:01am
  • Local News

Meet some standouts from the class of 2011, in their own words. HeraldNet collected commencement speeches from 44 student speakers at high schools across Snohomish County. Above is a snapshot of what’s on those speakers

‘ minds as they leave high school this year.

The 100 most frequently used words in the speeches, excluding common words such as “it” and “the,” appear in the “Wordle” above. The words that appeared the most are largest, including 115 instances of “high school” and 86 more of “school” on its own. Others showed a sense of the moment: “Time,” “years” and “remember” all are prominent. The smallest words to make the Wordle showed up 17 times; among them are “college,” “music” and “congratulations.”

And why do “Darrington” and “ant” show up among the top 100? The answers are in the speeches from dozens of Snohomish County’s best and brightest students. You can read them here or choose from the list below.

Alisa Stang, Stanwood High School
Annie Manhardt, Cascade High School
Ashlee Lawrence, Glacier Peak High School
Ben Mow, Granite Falls High School
Brad Dickson, Lake Stevens High School
Brady Coad, Snohomish High School
Charnie Dondrea, Lakewood High School
Chelsea Mueller, Marysville-Pilchuck and Getchell High Schools
Chika Acholonu, Jackson High School
Daniel Botamanenko, Darrington High School
David Jorgensen, Glacier Peak High School
Garrett Dmochowsky, Snohomish High School
Hannah Clark, Lakewood High School
Jahmie Day, Glacier Peak High School
Jake Lovell, Darrington High School
Joan Tran, Mountlake Terrace High School
Joshua Ogden, Everett High School
Juliana Borges, Lake Stevens High School
Kyla Yorkoski, Marysville-Pilchuck and Getchell High Schools
Leigha Dale, Sultan High School
Madison Hatfield, Darrington High School
Mark Blankenship, Marysville-Pilchuck and Getchell High Schools
Max Echterling, Monroe High School
Megan Herzog, Lynnwood High School
Melissa Webb, Arlington High School
Nathan Sewell, Monroe High School
Peter Hu, Bothell High School
Richie Williams, Lake Stevens High School
Riley Schmit, Snohomish High School
Rishi Trivedi, Mariner High School
Robert Gebert, Everett High School
Ryan Fox, Sultan High School
Sam Morin, Mountlake Terrace High School
Sarah Gonzales, Arlington High School
Shanté Stowell, Granite Falls High School
Stephanie Banning, Jackson High School
Taryn Ziegler, Cascade High School
Ternessa Cao, Lakewood High School
Tom Overton, Kamiak High School
Tucker Cholvin, Bothell High School
Victoria Cantu, Sultan High School
Victoria Dan, Mariner High School
Vietkhanh Vu, Cascade High School
Walter Cano, Jackson High School

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