North Summit High School’s outgoing seniors chose Austin Richins, who they also know as “Torch,” as their commencement speaker for the May 18 graduation ceremony.
As it happens, Richins and the 74 graduates seated before their friends and family in the darkened school auditorium have a lot in common. He's from Henefer and graduated from North Summit in 2016.
His first day as a teacher in 2022 was the class of 2026’s first day of high school. And one of Richins’ first assignments was to be their class advisor.
“Just as you were sitting there scared and excited on your first day, I was also sitting there scared, intimidated, overwhelmed and so excited to start my journey,” he told the graduates.
Richins now teaches social studies and coaches football and wrestling. As the graduates prepare for new journeys, Richins said he hoped his words would help them along the way. But first, he made a joke.
He told his soon-to-be former students what he told them at the beginning of most every class, and they joined in with a shout, “Pull out your notes!”
Then, Richins shared lessons he’d learned reading the memoir of Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku. Those include that “tomorrow will come if you can survive today.”
Richins shared some of Jaku’s hardships, and the strength he had to overcome them. After relating some of his own, he told the graduates they’ll experience bumps on the road ahead too.
But valedictorian Emma Jasenovic told her classmates that, together, they can brave whatever life throws at them.
“The world out there is big, and it's pretty intimidating. It doesn't always have the close community that we've grown used to,” Jasenovic said in her speech. “But because we grew up here, we carry something that others don't: the knowledge that no one succeeds alone.”
Principal Devin Smith said graduation is unique, emotionally, since it sits some place in between pride and uncertainty.
“Tonight, you feel proud of what you have accomplished, and you should. You've worked hard to get here,” he told his students. “But if we're honest, there's probably also a little uncertainty about what comes next.”
But leaning into and overcoming that uncertainty was the message of the seniors’ class song: “I Lived” by One Republic. They sang a number for their family, friends and teachers gathered at graduation.
Thirty-one graduates are headed to a four-year college, and one to a two-year college, according to numbers provided by high school counselor Lance Pace.
Ten will serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, seven will go to technical school and 25 are entering the workforce.
