CCHS has 451 graduates cross the stage

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

More than 450 graduates walked across the stage at the Bell County Expo Center Friday evening, marking the end to their high school career and the beginning of their next stage in life.

Friday’s ceremony opened with the posting of the colors by the Copperas Cove High School JROTC and the playing of the National Anthem by the Pride of Cove Band.

Senior Class president Emma MacDonald recognized the district’s special guests before giving her speech that highlighted the importance of having a support system.

“We would share many laughs and many tears. There were high highs and low lows, but if anything, we found our people. The people that you get lost and find your way back with,” MacDonald said. “I want to personally thank all of my people, and I want you to know the impact that you have made on my life…I encourage you all to stay in contact with your people. Continue to build small relationships with others around you. Allow yourself to have people who catch you when you fall and people to share all of life’s memories with.” 

Class of 2022 Salutatorian Chandler Gastelo shared words of wisdom on what he felt was the most important lesson from high school- to not put anything above his mental health. 

“It is important to work hard for your goals, but only do it if you’re enjoying it along the way or if you're going to consistently be satisfied without,” Gastelo said. “I've also learned we need each other. Independence is a wonderful trait to have, but it is important to have relationships in our life. People need people to make life worthwhile.”

Gastelo ended his speech by sharing a life lesson learned from an anonymous teacher.

“’People are not the brightest, and you should expect disappointment,’” Gastelo said. “Though this quote is rather blunt, it is something I will live by. The sooner you realize this, the better, and the less surprising life will be.”

Class of 2022 Valedictorian Lea Boal gave a message of the realities of high school and about remembering to be selfish.

“As I have spent time reflecting on what high school has meant to me, I'm glad that we did not develop into adults through perfection because then we wouldn’t be motivated to grow up or leave,” Boal said. “If high school was flawless, it would last forever, and we would be content with our untouched potential like butterflies who refuse to fly. We spent high school going through a metamorphosis, entered as freshman who thought they knew everything, but understood truly nothing and leaving as graduates who think they know nothing but understand so much more than they ever thought possible.”

She said that she felt the best value for a person to have is selfishness.

“That may sound rash, but I think that selfishness is so commonly associated with so many negative connotations that we tend to dismiss it as a positive quality for a resilient person to possess,” Boal said. “We cannot spend our entire lives doing things for the sole purpose of making others happy, because then what is left for us.”

Boal said that it is never too late to change one’s life path and forge the life they desire for themselves.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Burns gave a heartfelt speech where he shared a brief message of encouragement for the graduates to remember how important they are and to find their passion in life.

“Two important days in history, the first one is when you were born. The second one is when you realize what you were born for,” Burns said. “God has a plan for you. There's a purpose for your life, and it's incumbent upon each and every one of you to work hard to try to figure out what that plan and purpose is. There are two things I want to remind you of as you pursue life. One is to be passionate about what God's call on your life is, and the other one is to persevere, to stick with it until it is finished.”

Burns also shared the Bible verse, 2 Timothy 4:7, which reads, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”

There are 451 graduates in the Copperas Cove High School Class of 2022. These graduates have earned at least $1,468,653 in scholarships this year.

They will be attending colleges and universities across the country, from Arizona to Georgia to Texas to Hawaii, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Illinois and beyond, including a university in Brazil, where they will be majoring in fields such as aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, business, allied health, finance, anthropology, computer science, journalism, biochemistry, public health, criminal justice, psychology, biology, nursing, illustration, history, chiropractic medicine, forensic accounting, music education, molecular biology and more.

Students will also be enlisting and/or commissioning into the military in the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and Army.

These graduates have earned certifications in a variety of fields, including that of Phlebotomy Tech; Certified Vet Tech; Certified Nurse Aide; Patient Care Tech; Clinical Medical Assistant; Pharmacy Technician; ServSafe Manager Certification; Floral Certification; Welding Certification; Certified EKG Technician; Entrepreneurship & Small Business; and CompTIA A+.

One of those graduates is Dylan Cahill, who faced adversity growing up and during his high school career. Cahill is a hearing child of deaf parents, and he didn’t learn to talk until around age six, he said. Because he learned by watching television, and his parents watched with closed captioning, Cahill said he developed a higher grade level reading level.

Cahill lost his mother in 2020, but he said that every day, he makes sure he is living for her and to make her proud.

He made a change in how he approached his schooling during his junior year, where he took as many college courses as he could, through the OnRamps program with University of Texas in Austin, as well as with Central Texas College, and even took AP Spanish and passed. He kept up his A-average this year with his Dual Credit and OnRamps classes and their rigorous coursework.

Cahill earned a $30,000 merit scholarship to Kent State University and won the Bob Weiss Memorial Scholarship. He plans to major in hospitality- event management and get a double minor in sign language and disability studies to pursue a career of opening up his own sports bar for the disabled. He said that he was inspired to go this way after growing up with deaf parents whose ability to find a social environment that they could enjoy and be comfortable in was limited.

 “I hold myself to a standard of retaining my grades, but I've had some hardships,” Cahill said.

He shared that he spent time in ISS and in DAEP during his freshman and sophomore years. Throughout his high school challenges, Cahill said that he made sure to help himself.

“I was fortunate enough to meet all the people in my life that were willing to help, but it wouldn't have mattered if I didn't help myself in the first place,” Cahill said. “Since I lost my mom, every time I look in the mirror, I think of her, and I realize that every day I step out my house, I represent her, and I represent my family, and now I represent my school.”