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JANESVILLE 鈥� Student speaker Lilly Bailey said the first word that comes to her mind about the Parker High School Class of 2025 is 鈥渞elentless.鈥�

鈥淓ach one of us has faced real challenges at Parker,鈥� said Bailey, addressing graduates at their commencement Friday night at Monterey Stadium.

鈥淔or some of us, it was finding out who you were and where you belonged, and for others it was having cancer. Everyone in this class has had something to overcome, something that has tested us, and yet here we are,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淲e made it. I am genuinely proud of everyone sitting here in front of me.鈥�

Throughout the ceremony, student speakers offered perspective on how the past four years have shaped.

Bailey told the audience that high school 鈥渢aught us a lot,鈥� including discipline and resilience.

鈥淲e鈥檝e learned to grind for every opportunity because, as it turns out, nothing is handed to you,鈥� Bailey said, adding that the 鈥淐lass of 2025 is ambitious, creative and deeply committed to being the best version of ourselves. Even if that version changes every other week, we push through, we laugh through and sometimes cry through the chaos. But we never stop showing up.鈥�

Lauren Redieske said in her message that as she was thinking about how to welcome the crowd, to her mind came the phrase, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait.鈥�

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait for the weekend. I can鈥檛 wait for summer break. I can鈥檛 wait to drive, to turn 18, to graduate and to finally move on to what鈥檚 next. And, if we鈥檙e being honest, a lot of us spent high school looking ahead. We鈥檝e counted down the days to the next game, next break or just the next chance to sleep in,鈥� Redieske said.

She said there is nothing wrong with that, as 鈥渉ope and excitement are beautiful things.鈥�

鈥淏ut somewhere along the way, 鈥業 can鈥檛 wait鈥� became a background music for all of us. We were so focused on what was next, we sometimes forgot to appreciate what was now. The truth is these last four years were made up of the things we used to say we couldn鈥檛 wait for, and now they鈥檝e come and gone,鈥� Redieske said. 鈥淭he hallways we walked every day, the laughter we shared over inside jokes, the people who watched us grow and the people who grew right alongside us.鈥�

Redieske later added, 鈥渘ow we鈥檙e here, a moment we鈥檝e looked forward to for years, graduation. And, it鈥檚 tempting to say it again: 鈥業 can鈥檛 wait for what鈥檚 next.鈥� And yes, the future鈥檚 exciting but before we rush forward, I think we owe it to ourselves to pause, to breathe, to take pride of what we鈥檝e done and who we鈥檝e become because this moment right now is one of those 鈥業 can鈥檛 wait鈥� moments we used to dream about. And now we鈥檙e living it.鈥�

Student speaker Addison Jones reflected on perseverance. Jones was a three-sport athlete, participating in volleyball, basketball and track and field. She said it meant a lot of long nights and 鈥渆ven longer bus rides.鈥�

鈥淚f you follow athletics here, you might also be familiar with the recurring theme in the newspaper, 鈥樚切腣log传媒 Parker comes up short,鈥� or 鈥樚切腣log传媒 Parker takes a loss,鈥欌�� Jones said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 always win. In fact, we rarely won and that hurt, but losing taught me something that winning never could: how to keep going through difficulty.鈥�