There was no time like the present for 184 proud seniors at Saucon Valley HS June 8, when the class of 2018 took the auditorium stage for one final exercise – commencement.

The graduates’ chosen faculty presenter, Gerald Demko, encouraged them to relish their commencement in accordance with the students’ chosen theme for the ceremony, “In the Moment.”

“After all your hard work, take a deep breath and relax. You made it,” Demko joyfully relayed to the graduates.

Demko’s address followed the Saucon Valley HS Band’s ushering the graduates-to-be into a packed house of family, friends and faculty to a majestic arrangement of “Pomp and Circumstance.” The chorus then joined the band to lead the crowd in the National Anthem and Saucon’s Alma Mater.

Demko had worked with the class of 2018 since the year they entered first grade, and was welcomed with overwhelming applause as he took to the podium to deliver the faculty address at commencement.

“As you travel down new roads, stay positive, set goals and achieve them, laugh and have fun,” he advised the graduates. “I will miss you all, and I look forward to hearing and reading about your achievements.”

Class salutatorian Samuel Ward explained in his address how being laser-focused on his lofty future goals kept him juggling a heavy course load and a slew of extracurricular activities. Somewhere in the midst of all that chaos and future planning, though, he had an epiphany - we can only really live in the present.

“I realized my goals for the future were impacted directly by what I do here and now,” said Ward, who will study bio-engineering at Lehigh University. “Your dreams motivate you, but what you do now shapes you. It’s important to live life now and not stress about the future or the past.”

After the Saucon Valley HS Chorus followed Ward with a performance of Stephen Paulus’s “The Road Home,” Katherine Appel, class president and valedictorian, continued relaying the importance of being present in reality, especially in an age when technology easily distracts us from our present reality.

Having grown up in an age where “pencils were replaced with IPads, and social interactions were defined by snap chats,” Appel described being immersed in the visually appealing world perpetuated by technology that can make it hard to determine “what is real and what is Photoshopped.

“Stop and look around you and realize that no one is as perfect as their profile,” Appel said. “I’ve watched as my class has become one of musicians, artists, athletes, triathletes, welders and academics, and you don’t need a diploma or 100 ‘likes’ to prove that. So, look up from your screen and be present right where you are.”

Appel, who plans to attend Emory University and stufy biology, finished by quoting the late tech guru Steve Jobs, “Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s.”

Special recognition was then given to award recipients, as well as graduates who are entering the armed forces, and, in a special treat to the audience, veterans of the armed forces. At Principal Beth Guarriello’s cue, the band played “Armed Forces Salute” by Robert Lowden, an arrangement combining the anthems of every service branch. During the piece, Guarriello announced the transition to each branch’s anthem and the veterans and graduates entering that branch stood to the riveting applause of the crowd.

Graduates joining the Marines are Cassidy Guthrie and Holden Lau. Joining the Army are Ian Mease and Andrew Wieder. Graduates Tyler Miller and Josh Miller will be joining the Navy and Brittany Howell, Hannah Miller and Megan Peggs are joining the Air Force.

District Superintendent Dr. Craig Butler took the podium at this, his first commencement ceremony as superintendent. Butler testified to Saucon Valley being his favorite school district in his long career in education, and left the graduates with the inspiring quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson; “Do not follow where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

“This class has it all,” he testified, “not to mention respectful men and women. We are very blessed. I’ve enjoyed walking the halls, sitting in classes and getting to know each and every one of you.”

Guarriello, who MC’d the ceremony, finally had her moment at the podium, when she explained that there are three kinds of commencement speeches: one that reminisces on the past and all of the classes’ accomplishments, and another that looks forward to the future ,when the class will take society in new directions.

“Tonight, though, I want focus on the third kind and ask you to live in the present,” she said. “Be present every day starting today. This is your high school commencement. You’re here right now, together with your class, possibly for the last time. Reflect on how that makes you feel.”

She encouraged the graduates to work hard, keep learning and take care of each other.

“Don’t live in the past, or vicariously through others, and don’t be too anxious about the future,” she told the class. “Instead, as Marcus Aurelius’ wrote in ‘Meditations,’ wake up and realize it’s good to ‘be alive, to think, to enjoy and to love.’”

After presenting the diplomas and the ceremonial moving of the tassel by the valedictorian, Guarriello presented the class of 2018 to roaring applause from the audience. The evening closed with a reception in the gymnasium.