Coronado's Class of 2021 closes Day 5 of EPISD's Graduation Season.
(CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL June 19, 2021) — Coronado High School’s 647 graduates walked the stage at Bowie Baty-Simmang Stadium Saturday evening to close off Day 5 of EPISD’s 2021 Graduation Season.
The class, which raked in more than $10.4 million in scholarships, boasts a QuestBridge Scholar and two National Merit Scholars.
They are led by valedictorian Ana Paulina Serrano and salutatorian Srilakshmi Muthyala, one of EPISD’s five 2021 National Merit Scholars. All-Coronado Boy Aron Basurto and class president Jordan Katz also spoke during the ceremony.
Harvard bound Serrano urged her classmates to heed “two essential pieces of advice.”
“The first has been said to me by numerous people, which is to be yourself. This is a major cliche, but standing by your beliefs, values, and personality will allow you to lead the most authentic and liberating life,” she told her fellow T-Birds. “The second piece of advice was given to me by my father as he battled relentlessly through cancer. He always told me to ‘stay cool.’ To be honest, this is the toughest piece of advice I have had to follow. Life is going to hand us some very difficult experiences, and while we cannot control what they will be, we can always control how we approach them. Keeping a ‘cool’ mindset will bring us the clarity to exercise sound judgement, as well as bringing peace of mind.”
Future doctor Muthyala, who plans to attend Texas A&M, wrote a poem to illustrate her remarks. She began with:
I put my foot forward
For the first time into our school
Too young, too eager
To start a new chapter of my life
Now, with the past tucked behind me
The same emotions whirl around me once again
But now, tainted with a bittersweet, nostalgic scent
As I take a deep breath
Preparing to cross the threshold once more
Fond memories begin to envelop me
To watch a rebroadcast of the Coronado graduation, visit www.episd.org/live.
Photos by Leonel Monroy