Addressing the 249 graduating members of Dartmouth High School’s Class of 2024 on Sunday, June 2, Class President Julia Caron admitted she has wanted to get away from Dartmouth all her life.

However, now that she’ll be heading to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in just a few months, she said she has realized “I’ll no longer be the carefree kid that I was with access to beaches, little ice cream shops and beautiful sunsets — where everybody knows everybody.”

She added, “I am actually going to miss this place.”

Last summer, Caron said she met a Dartmouth High School student approximately 3,640 miles away on the top of the Eiffel Tower. It reminded her that even though everyone will be going their separate ways, they will forever be connected, because together they share Dartmouth.

“No matter where the rest of your long and fulfilling lives take you, Dartmouth will always be a piece of you,” she said. “That’s the beauty of the invisible string theory — we are all connected.”

She added, “No matter what, these people, this town, will always have your back.”

Valedictorian Owen Nielson, who will be attending Dartmouth College studying chemical engineering in the fall, spoke of how up until the seventh grade, all he cared for was winning a plastic trophy in any of the many youth recreation sports he participated in.

However, he said when he heard of his sister’s academic achievements at Dartmouth High School one night, a “one-sided” sibling rivalry emerged and — alas — he has come out “victorious.”

Despite this, Nielson told his classmates he wasn’t there to gloat about his sibling, but rather to admit that, like most people, he has been concerned with how others perceive him. However, he said his outlook has changed.

“After high school, I encourage you all to take the opportunity to branch out from any expectations that have been placed upon you and embrace your passions without worrying what those around you may think,” he said.

Nielson added doing this is essential to achieving “true personal fulfillment” and is also a goal he plans to keep for himself as he heads to college in the fall.

This year’s keynote speaker, Track Coach and Government and Politics Teacher Caitlin McCarron-Deely, spoke of the voting age and how this class has been an example of why it should be lowered to 16. 

She said millennials have made great changes in their time, “but we are already seeing, and will continue to see, that your generation is about to make tidal waves of change to better our world.”

McCarron-Deely highlighted how the students have made changes already within the high school, including getting free menstrual products for the bathrooms, serving as coaches and tutors voluntarily for their peers and advocating for themselves and others.

She said, “Whether you realize it or not, you’re leaving behind a legacy not only of trophies and awards, school records and standing-ovation-worthy performances, you are leaving behind a legacy of kindness, perseverance and laughter.”

“On behalf of the entire DHS community, I’d like to thank you, for being you,” she added.