Alaska’s class of 2025 shares message for future students

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - This month, students across Alaska are preparing for graduation.

Excitement is filling the air, with so many possibilities in store for new grads, especially as they prepare to enter the workforce or go on to higher education.

With so much on their minds as they take on new endeavors, some of Alaska’s graduates have messages they want to send to future students.

South Anchorage High School graduate Anna Kardashyan recommended that students “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

“If I didn’t do debate, then I wouldn’t realize that I was good at that,” Kardashyan said, “and I was really uncomfortable when I first started. I never liked public speaking. It was always something that scared me.”

Lance Halog from Bartlett High School suggested trying a musical instrument, but ensuring you’re having fun while doing it.

“If you go through four grueling years of band,” Halog said, “even though you would much rather be in orchestra, then, well, you probably would have been better off having fun being in orchestra and putting that on your transcript instead.

“So always always try to have fun with what you’re trying to do,” he said.

South Anchorage High School Kegan Sewall-Lau wants future students to know that their voices matter.

“What they do matters,” Sewall-Lau said, as does being able to try to make a difference in the community.

“You realize that the sky is kind of the limit,” he added.

Classmate Drake Ward, also from South Anchorage High, suggested not worrying so much about what people want you to be.

“You’re going to have a lot of pressure if you’re trying to be a mold of what other people want you to be,” Ward said. “So, being yourself really frees you up to do whatever you want to do, and you’ll find people who think the same way.”

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