Edmonds School District Stadium was packed on Saturday evening as family and friends came together to watch the Edmonds-Woodway High School graduating Class of 2022 receive their diplomas.

Faculty speaker Michael Simon and student speaker Mihin Wijayasundra encouraged the graduating class to never be afraid to fail.

“Don’t get paralyzed by your failures,” Simon said. “Learn from them and move forward.”

Wijayasundra agreed with Simon.

“It’s not failure that stops most,” he said. “But most stop at their first failure.”

Wijayasundra went on to say that by surrounding himself with true friends who allowed him to fail but continued to help him grow made him the best version of himself.

“You have all been a part of my journey here,” he said. “I would not be the captain, athlete, musician or student I am today without you. And for that, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Simon told the graduates they had plenty of time to be adults and urged them to spend their young years exploring and truly figuring out who they are as people.

“Just because you’re going to get old, doesn’t mean you have to get overly serious,” he said. “Take this time when you are young and have no real responsibilities and find your bliss. One day you may wake up and realize you only have so much time left to be happy, and that should scare you. So try not to wait so long.”

Another student speaker, George Quintans, told graduates to, “Begin with the end in mind.” As they step into adulthood, he reminded his peers to keep their eyes set on the end goal, whatever that may look like for each of them.

–Photos and story by Lauren Reichenbach