“Go big,” he said, and it was certainly keeping with the evening’s theme. Liberty HS lives up to that advice, and School Board President Michael Faccinetto knew it.

From the giant crowd filling Stabler Arena to the brim, to the opening trumpet fanfare, to the night-long pageantry, no other local school hosts a commencement like Liberty.

The class of 2018 was given the send-off it deserves June 7, with a special guest, multiple award recognitions, and musical interludes by the chorus and world-famous band and bagpipers.

The theme was the words of poet T.S. Eliot, who said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go,” and speakers explained how pushing against reason to take chances is about overcoming fear and finding success in breaking conventions.

Addressing her classmates for the final time before matriculating at MIT, valedictorian Lucy Kitch-Peck shared her apprehension at the many challenges facing them all, but she said she also sees opportunity in the freedoms available in adulthood. She said she was confident and sure of her place in the world at 14, but at 18 is terrified of the request, ‘tell me about yourself.’

The prospects of college and employment are daunting, she said, and “responsibilities are accumulating along with insecurities. Yeah, I’m a little scared,” she said, but she’s no longer boxed in by the many constraining rules and expectations of her elders. “I have the autonomy to be who I want to be. I can do the things I love not because it’s expected, but because I love to do them.”

Class speaker Erin Baughman also used a box analogy, explaining high school’s consistent press to fit in or conform to stereotypes or cliques. “It’s unfair of me to stand here and preach to my peers when I’m figuring all this out, too,” but, she went on, “now’s the chance to start liking yourself for yourself. There are lots of words to describe yourself, but the only word you can be is yourself.”

A brief appearance was made by Esther Lee, president of the local NAACP chapter and lifelong resident who has spent 50 years contributing the community’s social wellbeing. She was recognized for service to the country in a lifetime of giving on countless boards and organizations throughout the city and Lehigh Valley. One brave young man from the floor shouted, “Thank you, Mrs. Lee,” causing the entire hall to roar with applause.

Liberty Principal Harrison Bailey III, celebrating the sixth graduating class of his tenure, quoted Oprah Winfrey; “’Success is that incredible moment when preparation meets opportunity.’ It’s time to hit opportunities head-on.” He said their time at Liberty was spent helping them find their true purpose and providing opportunities, and, “Know that the mission to improve the lives of our fellow men and women is the real measure of success.”

Faccinetto warmed up the massive audience with an informal laugh, amused that some students’ accomplishments were already wildly above average. He addressed Kitch-Peck directly. “Lucy, your GPA was literally double mine,” he said, noting her stellar 5.024 average. “I didn’t know that was possible. But here I am, so anyone can succeed in life.”

Faccinetto then explained his thoughts regarding the theme. “Eliot wrote from the heart and pushed the envelope for a poet of his time. He often risked going too far. Your limits are not naturally defined. We so often allow others to define our limits. We live a life controlled by the words of others. By the fears of others. By the abandoned dreams of others. By your parents. By your teachers. By yourself because we never dare to risk going too far.”

He said the crazy and defiant are willing to try to change the world, and encouraged the graduates to take great chances.

Faccinetto cheered Liberty students’ many achievements this year, in sports, community service, artistic pursuits and simply what he calls, “the Liberty swagger,” and added they’ve proven to him they have the stuff for greatness.

“I don’t know how far you can go and you probably don’t either. But I know there is a part somewhere deep inside of you that wants to find out. After all you are the Liberty class of 2018.”