
U.S. Sen. Angus King gives the commencement address Friday at Dirigo High School in Dixfield. He told the 50 graduates, “You’ve got to try to do things because the thing that holds you back is not anybody in this room and not anybody outside this room. It’s the little man that sits on your shoulder and says ‘You can’t do that!'” Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times
DIXFIELD — Fifty Dirigo High School graduates were encouraged Friday night by valedictorian Ella Hines to face life’s challenges and by U.S. Sen. Angus King to regret things they did, not those they didn’t, when they come to the end of their life.
Speaking to the students assembled in DeFoe Gymnasium, Hines said, “In my mind, everyone of us graduating today is a little hobbit that is going out into a new world. We’ve all been in this cozy place for too long. Now is our call to adventure.
She continued, “We are being forced out of what is familiar and into the big wide world. Being so small and from a limited environment, we have a lot to learn as we make our way out of our shire and into society. The good thing is, we hopefully won’t have to do it alone.”
Hines said everyone will need help standing on that dark and scary path, “and I hope someone will be there to guide you through it. I hope you all make it to the other side of the forest better than you were before you entered.
“Our journey through life will not always be easy,” she said. “We must live through trials and tribulations. In my opinion, that’s what life is all about.”

Valedictorian Ella Hines, standing next to stacks of diplomas, speaks Friday night at Dirigo High School’s commencement in Dixfield. She told her classmates surrounding her, “Our journey through life will not always be easy. We must live through trials and tribulations. In my opinion, that’s what life is all about.” Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times
“Life is unexpected, joyous and morose, and beautiful. Make your journey yours,” Hines said. “Don’t go through the motions of life to survive. Do things because they make you feel fulfilled and happy so that you thrive in this world. Don’t let your humble beginnings stunt you from growth.”
Regional School Unit 56 Superintendent/Principal Pam Doyen said the school got a call from King to speak at graduation so he was added to the program as the commencement speaker.
In a 15-minute address he spoke about 10 things that “I wished someone had told me when I was 18. No. 1, take more risks. Try things. Try to do things you don’t think you can do.”
“Did you ever stop to think,” he said, “that there’s a multimillion dollar industry in this country to put erasers on pencils? That means it’s OK to make a mistake. Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey player, said he missed a hundred percent of the shots he didn’t take.
“You’ve got to try to do things because the thing that holds you back is not anybody in this room and not anybody outside this room. It’s the little man that sits on your shoulder and says, ‘You can’t do that!'” he said.
He added, “I don’t mean do stupid things. The most important single word of advice I’ve ever got in my life was when I met an old man when I just about your age and he said, ‘When you get to be my age, you’re going to regret things about your life. See that you regret the things that you did and not the things you didn’t do. The saddest words are ‘if only.'”
Following the ceremony, the class of 2024 held a Project Graduation party at Margaritas Restaurant in Auburn, then went to Spare Time Portland before returning to the school Saturday morning.
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