MBHS Class of 2019 crosses the finish line

The 52nd graduating class in Mountain Brook High School history has crossed the finish line. 

On May 23, Mountain Brook held its graduation ceremony at Samford University’s Pete Hanna Center and awarded diplomas to 339 seniors. 

According to the school’s college advisor, Karen Svetlay, the newly minted alumni will attend 65 colleges in 20 states. 

Mountain Brook’s symphonic band played “Pomp and Circumstance” as the seniors filed into the arena just after 6 p.m. Steadily, rows of empty blue chairs turned into a sea of green caps and gowns. 

The school’s 18 honor graduates led the procession. Rather than name valedictorians and salutatorians, Mountain Brook recognizes the top five percent of its senior class as honor graduates.

Three of them — Kathryn Mussell, Julia Baddley and Edwin Fan — addressed the crowd of peers, parents and faculty assembled at the ceremony. 

Mussell, who will attend Auburn University, took the microphone first. 

She talked about the change that she and her fellow seniors are about to experience. After graduation, they will leave the lives they’ve known since birth and create a whole new reality, she said. 

“The people we see every day are not the people we’ll see in three months’ time,” Mussell said. “The places we call home, where we eat on the weekends, the roads we drive, the radio stations we listen to, the sounds we hear outside our bedroom windows, all of it is going to change.”

Mussell said the change will bring discomfort, but discomfort shouldn’t be feared. Rather, she encouraged her peers to embrace new opportunities.

“You will without a doubt find yourself having to decide between comfort and discomfort, between predictability and change, between the known and the unknown,” Mussell said. “And it’s as simple as this: Don’t knock it until you try it.”  

Baddley, who spoke second, is heading to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Her speech focused on the legacy the graduating class leaves behind. 

Baddley mapped the group’s journey from kindergarten to 12th grade and mentioned a few highlights from the past year. One was the Spartans football team’s upset of region foe Hewitt-Trussville, and another was the Senior Ball. 

Baddley consistently emphasized the unity of the senior class.

“The class of 2019 has built our own identity,” she said. “We were so present, so involved, so passionate. We couldn’t stand a single moment passing without savoring it.” 

Fan, the final speaker, also reflected on his time in Mountain Brook dating back to his elementary days. He underscored the acceptance he experienced and highlighted the privilege that it is to grow up in the city. 

But that privilege, Fan said, comes with responsibility. 

“We have responsibilities as students to continue our academic pursuits,” he said. “In the not too distant future, we will have career and family responsibilities as well, and we will be called upon to serve our communities.”

Fan challenged his classmates to answer that call to service. He also encouraged them to strive for continual improvement. 

“Starting tonight, we can be better sons, and we can be better daughters, and we can be better friends to one another,” he said. 

The three speeches preceded a 30-minute diploma presentation, along with the singing of Mountain Brook’s alma mater. Then, the graduates turned their tassels and threw their caps in the air.