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�鶹Ӱ�� High School valedictorian Neel Chittur on Sunday credited his classmates with helping create a renaissance at �鶹Ӱ�� High by believing in themselves.

Chittur, who heads to Stony Brook University in September, addressed the 574 members of the Class of 2023 who gathered to celebrate graduation with family and friends at MVP Arena. This year’s grads were accepted at more than 140 public and private universities throughout the country.

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“If your belief in yourself is steadfast, you can achieve whatever you aspire to,” Chittur said. “As we’ve believed in ourselves, we’ve been able to grow as a school and community, leading to a renaissance in leadership, innovation, and passion. We’ve …  created a respected, modernized view of �鶹Ӱ�� High School for everyone, and we have shown what we are really about. Today is another steppingstone on the path toward greater respect and achievement.”

Read Chittur’s full comments here.

Also addressing the Class of 2023 was University at �鶹Ӱ��-bound Kevin Kam, who thanked his friends, family members and teachers for their support and urged his classmates to remember the journey and people they met along the way.

“During my time at �鶹Ӱ�� High, I learned that life rarely follows a straight path or progresses as you’d expect,” Kam said. “There will always be twists and turns, but that’s what makes life exciting! In my opinion. the important thing is how you handle that change. I use endings as times to reflect, improve and get excited for the next new thing. And I don’t like the term ending. Past experiences got me to this moment and when high school “ends” I'll have another experience that’ll get me to the next place I’m going.”

Read Kam’s full comments here.

Class President Kieran Sleasman, who will attend SUNY New Paltz, also spoke.

“As we go onto our next adventures we will keep with us the valuable lessons we learned here. How to live in the moment, procrastinate everything,  laugh, cry and scream with each other, love each other a whole lot and to share,” Sleasman said. Learning to share the room with each other will help us let new people into our lives who will bring value and intellect. And these lessons have prepared us to enter the world as functioning adults, no matter how scary it sounds.”

Read Sleasman's full comments here.

Congratulations to every single member of the Class of 2023!