Mingus Union High School held its graduation ceremony on Friday, May 23, with 293 students receiving diplomas, up from 255 last year.
Valedictorian Brooklyn Colvin said she was honored to be selected and that she considered it a validation of the hard work she did during her time at Mingus, which she credited with helping her grow as a person.
“Interact [Club] has helped me grow as a person so a lot of my favorite memories are there and the community service projects that we’ve done with Interact,” Colvin said.
Colvin said that she planned to attend Colorado College in Colorado Springs on a Questbridge scholarship and go on to law school before pursuing political office.
“Probably about eighth grade and all four years of high school, I’m like, I’m going to be the president, but slowly it’s turned into something more and more real so I definitely want to hold a political office,” Colvin said. “I feel very strongly about our political atmosphere and I definitely want to do something about it.”
“After this point our paths fork,” Colvin said in her valedictory address. “Each person starts their own journey of adulthood, whether you go on to the workforce, a gap year, to an apprenticeship, to the military, or to college like myself, you will interact with people you don’t know, it’s inevitable. And as you go, I’m urging you to interact with kindness. Now, I’m definitely not saying to be a people pleaser, I emphasize this. What I am saying is as humans we owe it to each other to go about our lives treating other people with kindness, especially if it’s a complete stranger, as you never know what someone is going through. I hold the personal belief that it is a fundamental principle of humanity to treat others with kindness.”
“It’s been pretty fun this year actually,” said Alice Kinsey, a basketball player and president of the Native American Club. “We took a trip to Fort Lewis [College in Durango, Colo.], we took a tour, we have some students actually going to be attending there next year. The counselor who runs the Native American Club, I’m going to miss her so much, but it’s been a fun four years with the Native American Club.”
“Today marks more than a finish line, it is a beginning, we have grown, we have struggled, and we have succeeded together,” Kinsey said in her speech. “Thank you to teachers, counselors and parents who help guide us. To my fellow graduates, this is just the start of new beginnings. I wish everyone the best of luck in their next step and adventure.”
Kinsey said that she planned to attend Glendale Community College on a basketball scholarship and to focus on her general studies for the first two years.
“It’s been a really pleasant experience, I have to say,” Aldo Lopez said. “The years went by really fast, I hate to say it, but just looking back with all the memories I’ve made here with my friends, the teachers, and all the staff it’s been a good run for sure.”
He will be attending Yavapai College to become certified as an automotive and diesel mechanic and said he hoped to start his own business. Among the other graduates, Clayton Ajaski said he was planning to go into welding and will be attending the Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix.
Michael Coryn said he planned to go to Northern Arizona University to get a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering.
Tyler Finger said he wanted to study biomedicine at NAU and Jonas Hoelting said he planned to study psychology at an out-of-state institution.
