In her senior address, Abigail Blauvelt, vice president of the Class of 2018, asks students to remember to live life in the moment and stop wishing it away.

Mountain Valley students are all smiles following commencement exercises Thursday evening.

Members of the Mountain Valley Class of 2018 celebrate after Superintendent Deborah Alden proclaimed the class officially graduated.

Like other seniors, Nathan White gives Principal Matt Gilbert a miniature car while receiving his diploma.

Several seniors used their mortarboards to deliver messages, like this one from Emma Casey.

Kendra Murphy, left, and Katelyn Gross march into the commencement exercises Thursday night at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford.

RUMFORD — As one of the smallest graduating classes ever at Mountain Valley High School, 65 seniors were presented with diplomas Thursday evening.

And as members of the Class of 2018 received their diplomas from Principal Matt Gilbert, they gave him a miniature car.

When the Regional School Unit 10 central office moved to the high school for the start of the school year, an extra area was needed for parking. Officials selected the area that had been used by the senior class. Thus, the miniature cars served as a reminder.

In her senior address, Abigail Blauvelt, the graduating class’s vice president, asked students to remember to live life in the moment and stop wishing it away.

“I’m guilty of doing this plenty of times myself, and many people have probably heard me say that I can’t wait to be done with high school and move on with my life,” Blauvelt said.

“The truth is that people say this for their entire lives. If people stopped thinking like this, we would all be happier.”

Blauvelt added: “I realize I don’t know what it’s like to be an adult. I don’t know what it’s like to have a raise a family, have a job or pay bills. But what I do know is that life is too short to be miserable. No matter what your job is, try to enjoy it. Spend time with your family while they are here because you don’t how long they’ll be here for.

“The more we wish for the future, the less you are living in the moment. And if you are living in the moment, how can you possibly be enjoying life to its fullest?”

Blauvelt said as her class prepare to head their separate ways, “I tell everyone to stop dwelling on the past, stop stressing about the future and focus on enjoying the here and now.”

Following graduation, most of the students boarded two buses for their Project Graduation at the Cranmore Mountain Resort in Conway, New Hampshire.

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