Still wearing her maroon mortarboard and robe after graduating from Belmont High School Saturday, 18-year-old Andrea Marquez was happy about her accomplishment, sad at the prospect of being apart from old friends, and frank when recalling the COVID pandemic.
Marquez, Principal Isaac Taylor, and other seniors reflected on the Class of 2024’s challenging first year, with classes held remotely during lockdown, and the more satisfying in-person school years that followed.
“I had a rough freshman year,” the soon-to-be UMass-Amherst student recalled. “I felt very isolated.”
On her return to in-person classes in her sophomore year, Marquez surrounded herself with caring friends and supportive teachers, leading to a happier school experience.
In his speech to graduates during the sunny ceremony held outside of the school, Principal Taylor recalled the Class of 2024 started in a “twilight zone” of distance learning. They were fortunate to now be able to gather in one place for their graduation. During COVID, students in previous graduating classes were unable to walk proudly across a stage in front of their cheering families. They had to go instead to the empty high school and pose for surreal photos next to a cardboard cutout of the principal as they “received” their diplomas.
Luckily, members of the Class of 2024 could stand side-by-side with their peers and graduate together.
“This class persevered,” Taylor said.
Looking to their futures, Taylor said, “We rely on you to help us figure out how to make our new world work,” adding drily, “No pressure.”
Old friends, new adventures
Isabella Radojevic, who spoke after winning a School Committee Award for outstanding achievement in scholarship, reminded her classmates to “treasure this moment.”
While many graduating seniors celebrated and hugged their families after flinging their bedazzled and plain caps in the air, some felt melancholy about separating from their Belmont High friends.
Marykate Brady, 18, who will attend Holy Cross in Worcester, said that although the beginning of her time at BHS was “weird … everyone came together in the end.”
Class President Tomas Estrada-Donahue addresses his fellow grads. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Graduation is about family. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
The wind symphony serenades the crowd at graduation. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Graduates file into the stadium to receive their diplomas. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Diploma in hand, a graduate waits for the final dismissal. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
A trio of graduates celebrate their accomplishment. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
The families gathered along the sidelines. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Graduates proceed to the final act of the drama. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Principal Isaac Taylor speaks to the Class of 2024. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Family memories. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
Eliana Brook Lesser conducts the wind symphony. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice) 
A Belmont High School graduate leaves the stadium after the ceremony. (Isabel Miranda/Belmont Voice)
The co-captain of the track team said she will miss all the friends she made as a runner.
Standing together after receiving their diplomas, two class officers, Shri Sokka, 18, and Said Isazada, 17, reflected on what this year meant to them.
Sokka, who will attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, said he appreciated all of the senior milestones, realizing that every final would be his last one at BHS.
Going a bit farther afield next fall to the University of British Columbia, Isazada said graduating was “bittersweet,” although he was looking forward to his future.
When asked how he felt about finishing his high school career, Austin Yang, 17, said, “I feel wonderful. It’s a weight off my shoulders.”
Attending UMass-Amherst in the fall, Yang said his favorite parts of Belmont High School were his friends and, unexpectedly, the “free lunches.”
