Glenbrook South High School Senior Luke Hansen had some advice for his graduating class shortly before he took the stage to receive his diploma.
“I would say from the bottom of my heart don’t take things too seriously, because you know what, if you make a mistake people won’t remember the next day,” he said shortly before Glenbrook South (GBS) High School‘s June 2 graduation ceremony at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont.
“Things happen,” the 18-year-old Glenview native said. “You just gotta keep moving on and be better than you were the day before. That’s how I live, be better than you were yesterday and you’ll do great things.”
Hansen was one of 746 graduating GBS seniors wearing blue gowns and caps who took part in the joyous ceremony, and he said his time at GBS was fantastic.
“It’s four years in the making and it flew by a lot faster than I thought it would,” he said. “I’m really happy to get the ball rolling for the rest on my life.”
Graduate Nicole Carmona, 17, of Glenview, said she felt as if she had been waiting for the graduation for a long time.
“I’m kind of nervous,” she said. “I feel like we’ve all been waiting for this moment. I feel like we’re all proud of ourselves. I’m proud of myself I made it this far. I’ve had a lot of accomplishments through my four years of high school and I’m proud and honored that I made it here.”
She also said she hoped her classmates seize the day. “It’s your day,” she said. “Have the best day ever literally.”
Indeed optimism, laughter, smiles, bouquets of flowers, and picture-taking were everywhere during the ceremony, something not lost on GBS student body president, Sarah Kwon, a commencement speaker during the ceremony.
“After four years of experiencing the different stories and personalities, I look out upon 746 shining faces of the class of 2024 and I’m acutely aware of how unique we are,” she told her classmates during her speech. “We faced adversities during our most formative years. We lived through a pandemic, through a divided geopolitical and political landscape, and through, well, high school. We cannot be confined to one passion because we burst forward with too many to contain.”
But the ceremony was not all smiles and laughter. At one point GBS principal Barbara Georges asked everyone to take part in a silent moment of “reflection and remembrance” for GBS seniors, Marko Niketic, 17, who was killed in a car crash in Glenview only weeks before graduation, and senior, Zidan Raab, 16, who died in May.
“Their absence is deeply felt and we carry their memories with us in this moment,” Georges said. “The loss of Markus and Zidan weighs heavily on our hearts.”
GBS senior, Nicholas Stach, 18, said he sees the graduation ceremony as a defining moment for the GBS class of 2024.
“It’s obviously a very big moment,” he said. “It was a fun time when I was there. I got to meet a lot of cool, fun people and tons of new friends. I hope everyone is going to do well in the future. Keep pushing every day and have a good time in college.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
