On May 29, Walter Johnson’s graduating class of 2015 will make the transition from Wildcats to alumni. Graduation is a day that many students look forward to for all of their academic lives, and this exciting event is taking place for WJ seniors in just 15 days.

Senior Jake Goodman, along with many of his peers, is looking forward to walking across the stage and receiving his diploma.

“There are many inspiring lessons I have learned [at WJ], one of my favorites [I heard] in history class… ‘History repeats itself time and time again’, which is very true indeed,” Goodman said.

Goodman advises future graduates to be very excited for this time and their transition into college.

Senior Josh Dea will sorely miss some of his favorite teachers, including math teacher Justin Fraser, who Dea credits with helping him learn to appreciate math. Dea learned from English teacher Karen Bewick that one of the best ways to be truly happy is ignore what others tell you to do and listen to your own heart and direction.

“Get involved in different clubs and events at WJ so you can build relationships,” Dea advised future graduating Wildcats.

The class of 2015’s commencement speaker will be Michael Williams, an ex-professional soccer player, who left his job teaching history at WJ last year. Williams was the WJ coordinator of the Minority Scholars program, and left to further his endeavors in the program.

Senior Jenna Schiponi is most looking forward to hearing the valedictorian speak at the graduation ceremony, whose identity is not revealed until that individual sets foot on stage. Schiponi is anticipating many tears from the audience and graduates as the ceremony closes. She, much like many of her peers, will deeply miss all of the friends she made over the four years at WJ during class and extracurricular activities.

“As long as you enjoy your time senior year and work just as hard as you did junior year, you will be really excited for college, knowing…that you will succeed and make many friends,” Schiponi said.