LEWISTON – Eager graduates dressed in green and gold marched through the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday night as Leavitt Area High School held its commencement for the Class of 2007.

Parents and friends packed the Colisee as the 142 students received their diplomas.

Principal Patrick Hartnett opened the ceremony by urging the graduates to recognize their similarities.

“We are a lot more connected then we realize,” Hartnett said, citing the importance of human interaction. “We need to connect with one another as people.”

Hartnett bid the class goodbye, and asked them to “continue to learn in all that you do.”

Salutatorian Arielle Kippax acknowledged that her diploma was not only a milestone but a sign that change is on the horizon.

“Let us embrace our something different,” Kippax told her classmates.

Kenneth Maher admitted that his lofty class rank came with one big downside.

“When I heard I was third, all I thought was, ‘I have to give a speech.'”

In his honor essay, Maher also acknowledged how daunting the future could be and gave his fellow graduates some reassurance. “There is a reason for all the struggles you face,” he said.

Katie Wonch urged the crowd to seek their passion. “Use your passion to become the best you can, and make tomorrow yours,” she said.

Valedictorian Lindsey Pelletier took the chance to inform her classmates about the evils of procrastination. “You might as well get going,” Pelletier told the graduates “because your struggles will never be smaller.

“To begin improving our world, we need to start right now. Good things do not come to those who wait. It’s our turn, Class of 2007, lets seize every moment,” she said.