Another school year has come and gone, which means another group of students have celebrated the milestone of graduation.

Layna Kozak, the valedictorian for Frank Maddock High School, says her last year in high school was a turning point for her. Not only was she able to focus on her schoolwork, but she was able to make more connections with her fellow students.

“In every class, I think I sat by people I haven’t in the past,” she says. “I tried to interact more with people, even in the halls.”

Early in the year, Kozak took a spare block and ended up forming a study group, forming friendships with all of them.

“Our group just kept growing, which was really cool,” she says. “It was really fun.”

She says she realized everyone was working toward the same goal and it felt unifying for her.

Knowing that she has made a bunch of new friends this year, Kozak says graduation is bittersweet. However, she feels confident that in the future, she will be able to connect with new people and form new friendships.

Kozak’s future holds some travelling as she plans to go on a mission trip when she’s 19. In between, she plans to try out something new and take mechanics at Frank Maddock.

“It’s not something I’ve ever really done before,” she says. “My dad and his buddy own a shop and I had to change my oil one time when I was there. I thought it was pretty cool.”

Along with her new experience with mechanics, Kozak hopes to learn a new language. While she’s not sure what exactly she wants to do going forward, she’s leaning toward Engineering.

Areigha Hoetmer feels similar to Kozak. After giving her valedictorian speech at the Holy Trinity Academy graduation, she says she’s got travel on her mind.

She spent the first semester of this last year focusing on her schoolwork, but Hoetmer saved the best for last, leaving herself an easy semester for her final year of school.

Now that she’s completed her graduation, Hoetmer says everything feels a little surreal.

“Graduation is kind of crazy. I’m definitely very proud of myself and my classmates, because it’s not an easy thing to get to,” she says.

Hoetmer says now that she’s done school, when she looks back it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was. With everyone taking the next steps in their lives, she says it’s a bittersweet feeling.

“But it is also good. I wouldn’t want to have to go back to school. It’s just a big change,” she says.

In the fall, Hoetmer plans to take some courses across the pond in France.

“There’s a fall semester in a program based in France,” says Hoetmer. “That’ll be exciting.”

The program, which focuses on European cultural and geographical studies along with some Biblical studies, will help her travel across the continent. She says she will visit Italy, Germany, Switzerland and more.

Once she’s completed that program, Hoetmer plans to continue travelling, this time heading toward Australia and visiting some South Pacific and Asian countries.

Though Hoetmer is planning to go see the world now that school is done, her thoughts are with her fellow students.

“It’s a super big accomplishment for everybody, and it’s a huge change,” says Hoetmer. “And I just hope that everybody has the best journey ever, wherever they’re going next year. I’m just wishing them the best.”

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This article was written by a reporter supported through the Local Journalism Initiative and edited by the writer’s host newsroom. The Local Journalism Initiative is a federally funded program that supports original public-interest journalism in smaller or underserved communities across Canada. Content produced through the initiative is editorially independent and does not necessarily reflect the views of Shootin’ the Breeze.

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