Forest City grads hear NASA success story

BY ROBERT L. BAKER

Ten years ago Elisa Sandvik addressed her fellow Forest City graduates as the 2001 valedictorian.

Friday night she returned to give a “real” commencement address and spoke to the 2011 graduates about not giving up on a dream.

Hers was and still is to be an astronaut, but the now Mrs. Elisa Truscott said she also dreamed of working for NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

She said it was difficult to put into words the joy of recently keeping six space shuttle astronauts flying around the world safe, but it had been a thrill.

She retraced her own steps into the space frontier, and said, “I want you to mentally link luck with preparation, opportunity and perseverance, and you will go far.”

Valedictorian Andrea Burleigh tried to characterize the lessons learned so far as mostly learning to get back up each time you try something new and fall on your face.

She said she liked the concept of “paying it forward” and reminded her classmates that life really is about special moments you make for yourself and others.

Salutatorian Matthew Terry asked the friends and family gathered when was the last time it had been involved in a 13-year-long project that turned out as great as the class of 2011.

Grinning, he turned to his class and told the graduates to take the fresh start they had been given and never give up.

The class motto, quoting Douglas Adams, was “We may not have gone where we intended to go, but we think we ended up where we intended to be.”

Superintendent Robert Vadella, who is closing out time as

superintendent with the Forest City School District said the grads also needed to be reminded that life is what you make it.

“You need to find within you the means to enjoy where you are, and where you end up.”