Pleasant Valley High School celebrated its Class of 2026 on Friday evening during graduation ceremonies at the school’s stadium.

Under sunny skies and pleasant weather, 320 students walked across the football field to take their places, and left as high school graduates to the warm cheers of family and friends.

Determining your own path and remembering to appreciate life as you live it were among the themes of the speeches.

Salutatorian Josephine Jurasits said she spent lots of time thinking about what she wanted to say, then a friend suggested she watch the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” She did and a quote from the movie became the basis of her speech: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you can miss it.”

Jurasits said her dad has always warned her that “life moves faster the older that you get.”

“I just didn’t believe him until now,” she said.

Jurasits talked about finally noticing all that has changed around her: parents getting older, teachers retiring.

“The time you’re given on Earth is finite, so use it wisely,” she said. “Seize the moment when you have it. Don’t push it off and say things like, ‘I’ll do it later,’ because oftentimes later comes much faster than we expect it to. So as we all leave here tonight, don’t just remember the past four years. Take them with you and make the most of the moments that have yet to come.”

Josephine Jurasits is the daughter of Steven and Linda Jurasits. She plans to attend Misericordia University this fall and major in biology with a premed track

Next, class President Chelsea Henry encouraged her classmates to forge their own paths. She said her former teacher Denise Hopely, who also is a former adviser of the school’s chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America and is now a director on the school board, “has always told me to own the stage.”

“To me, this means to fully explode into your power and presence,” Henry said. “Do not just stop on your tracks because the familiar railroad ends. That’s the realistic path. Instead, build a new road, construct a new bridge, and believe that you can build a way to success that no one, not even your Kuder Navigator, could have predicted.

“Reject the advice that tells us to settle for achievable goals. Let us embrace the power of the improbable. Your mark on the world will not be neat. It will not be contained with the lines, and it certainly will not be realistic. It will be profound.”

Henry was then accompanied by the other class officers: Emily Heckman, vice president, Logan Krock, secretary, and Kristie Bordne, treasurer, in the presentation of a monetary gift from the class to the school, which was accepted by Principal Brian Boylan.

Valedictorian Sharon Yang gave the closing speech from the students.

She is the daughter of Bing Yang and Yung Chen and plans to attend Cornell University in the fall majoring in economics with an intent to double major in computer science. “Your path has yet to be determined, but you have a choice to make,” Yang said. “Take an active stance or watch others write your story for you.”

She told her classmates to not be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are not failures.

“Failure is giving into your fears,” Yang said. “Failure is going through the motions with 90% effort. Failure only occurs when you’ve given up. So please, I implore you to take those risks and to live life with a hint of uncertainty. You only live once and this is your life — yours and only yours. Be yourself, and don’t let others live it for you.

“We are all ordinary people, but within each of us, there is a potential for extraordinary futures.”