After four years — which included 16 choir concerts, 36 fire drills, 5,400 hours of class time and 720 afternoons waiting for the final bell to ring — it was time for Anacortes High School seniors to start their next adventure.

“We are here to celebrate the end to a great journey,” said Kevin Steen, student choice speaker.

On Friday, 193 students became the 102nd class to graduate from Anacortes High School. An additional nine students received diplomas but did not attend the ceremony.

AHS Principal Pam Estvold told the gathered crowd that 94 percent of the graduates intend to further their education at a four-year or two-year school or a technical program. Three plan to join the military.

“Congratulations Class of 2008. We are very proud of you,” Estvold said.

The gym was packed with family and friends who came to watch the ceremony. Students lined up outside, nervously retouching their hair, before parading into the gym. Their nerves seemed to vanish as they hammed it up for cameras when they entered through a flower-covered arch.

The ceremony concluded with the traditional serpentine walk around the gym, showcasing the class of graduates.

From encouraging students to go out on a limb to reach their goals to treating others with compassion, the themes of the speeches at the graduation ceremony varied. The five valedictorians spoke at the commencement exercises along with Senior Class President Madison Mackenzie and Steen.

Spencer Burnett reminded the graduates that there were hundreds of people there with them.

“We did not get here alone either,” he said.

He expressed deep gratitude for those who lit the flame within them.

“We are here today because we are pretty hot,” Burnett said.

He thanked everyone from the lunch ladies and teachers to friends. All reignited each other at some point.

“I love you all so very much without exception,” Burnett said.

Antonia Heffelfinger said perfection is a moving target everyone is trying to hit.

“In making mistakes we discover the true meaning of education,” she said. “Our success lies in our ability to recognize our faults and live with them.”

Heffelfinger said everyone wants gold stars and praise but success is defined by personal standards. In order to truly succeed, she said, people all have to be prepared to fail.

She encouraged her classmates to set their own standard of excellence.

Sarah Idczak drew on personal experience to give her classmates advice.

“I don’t have life figured out more than anyone else,” she said.

When she moved here four years ago, Idczak said she had the chance to redefine herself. Her classmates now all have that chance.

“We have proven ourselves time and again,” she said. “We have learned that hard work pays off.”

She said they are ready now for new challenges, adventures and friends.

Theodore Gross injected a little humor into his reflection.

He asked the audience to stand because he knows how hard to seats are. That got some applause.

“Thank you for the standing ovation,” Gross joked after everyone was seated.

Gross said the class was challenged every step of the way.

“Every year more and more was asked of us,” he said. “These challenges made us become strong like a mighty oak tree.”

And like an oak tree begins as a nut, they all started small too.

“At the beginning we were all nuts — some of us more than others,” he said.

He encouraged his classmates not to forget where their roots are and to go out on a limb to reach their goals.

Emma Stanford asked her classmates to think about others.

“I thought ‘What can I tell these people they don’t already know,’” she said.

We live on an island with a wealthy, homogeneous population. But even with that she said many of her classmates had obstacles to get past to graduate.

After today, she said many will see even greater suffering than students in the class experienced.

“I implore you to treat these people with compassion,” Stanford said.

Mackenzie said the graduates are all here with friends as they start their adult lives and all are looking for different things.

“It’s like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and we have been sharing the yellow brick road,” she said.

She read from a poem by fellow senior Marlin Major that reminisced about high school and encouraged the Class of 2008 to enjoy their lives.

Steen recalled in kindergarten he would get blank pages to fill with drawings. He would then tell the teacher about them and she would write the story underneath.

“As we got older we began to draw out our own choices,” Steen said. “We sit here at the end of our first book.”

Now, everyone will start a new book.

He left the class with a list of seven tasks they should start right away.

First, sing.

“You don’t have to sing the great works,” Steen said. Singing to the car radio is good enough.

Second, read a book.

Third, travel.

“It is never too late to discover another culture,” he said.

Fourth, fall in love.

He said it is part luck and part loving yourself.

“Don’t guard your heart too closely,” he said.

Fifth, take your eyes off the clock. Don’t wait for something to happen to you, he said. Happen to the world.

Sixth, live passionately.

“If you have a talent run with it,” he said.

And finally, fail.

He said without failure they will not know triumph or resilience.