LEWISTON — They hugged, laughed, held hands and snapped pictures as they waited in the hallway lining the Lewiston Memorial Armory on Sunday afternoon — 107 eager Lisbon High School seniors ready to take the world by storm.

“The people I’ve met and the things I learned and my classes,” Garrett Starr, 18, of Lisbon Falls said, when asked what he’ll miss the most about high school.

His friend, Kassidy Morse, 18, also from Lisbon Falls, said she was nervous but excited about her future.

“It goes by so fast,” Morse said. “Just slow down and enjoy the day.”

And enjoy the day they did as the Class of 2012 made its way down the center aisle of a standing-room-only venue. Parents, families, friends and loved ones cheered, cried, clapped and had their cameras ready to capture each and every moment.

Speakers took the stage, welcomed the crowd, congratulated their classmates and thanked their teachers and mentors. But the crowd exploded into applause when Sarah Giraldo rose and headed to the podium.

That’s because Giraldo, the class valedictorian, was not originally slated to speak. Lisbon Schools Superintendent Richard Green took the stage and stunned the crowd by inviting Giraldo to accept his speaking spot in the ceremony.

Due to changes in the school’s Top 10 selection process, she was not among those chosen by classmates to deliver one of the student addresses — despite being first in her class and its only summa cum laude graduate.

This year school staff asked the Top 10 students, as well as those with cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude designees to vote for this year’s graduation speakers. The move was met with controversy, including an opinion piece from the Sun Journal Editorial Board in Friday’s paper.

But in the end Giraldo’s speech was met by a standing ovation as her entire class and much of crowd came to their feet.

“Your chance of success is always zero percent if you don’t even try,” Giraldo said, encouraging students to not be afraid to ask why not when faced with challenges. “Sometimes we’re too busy planning our futures to live our lives.”

Other class speakers included Dillon Pesce, Morgan Reeves and Jordan Beauparlant. This year’s keynote commencement speaker, senior English teacher Jacqlyn Young, gave students three important lessons by which to live their lives.

Young, who followed the Class of 2012 since they were eighth-graders, told students to go out and see the world, return to their roots and leave the world a more beautiful place in the end by discovering their passion. Using herself as an example, she told the students about how she once wanted to be a famous writer, but realized her true passion was teaching and guiding future generations.

“Your own labor of love may surprise you,” Young said. “So leave the door open for it and embrace it when it comes.”