Moving on

Waynesboro High School valedictorian Peter Bihl does not know what he wants to do with his life.

But he’s not worried.

The blond-haired graduate, bound for William and Mary College, told more than 200 fellow classmates Saturday morning that the search for inspiration is uncertain but that every person can find a pursuit that “awakens the greatness.”

“If you pursue the thing that you love the most you will achieve the most success,” he said. “Seek that thing.”

In a speech both philosophical and tangible, Bihl included all pursuits, from world leadership to the quest for personal wealth, as potentially rewarding. He noted that while the world seems to grow smaller in the information age, it grows larger with possibilities.

After two knocks on the podium, Bihl implored the graduates: “Fight on. ... Do not settle for something that does not inspire you.”

Some who walked the stage Saturday learned their passion early in life, like salutatorian Daniel Heyward, who plans to study astronomy and physics at the University of North Carolina.

“Dad got me a telescope when I was, like, 8,” Heyward said of his study.

And the choice of UNC?

“My mom went there. I’ve always loved that school,” he said.

Others will blaze a new trail.

Senior class president Zach Wells is the first among six siblings to head to college. To pay his own way at Blue Ridge Community College, Wells has been saving earnings from work at Massaki restaurant in Waynesboro.

“I want to set a good example,” said Wells, who introduced commencement speaker Matthew Dameron, a 2003 WHS graduate.

A senior kinesiology major at James Madison University, Dameron asked graduates to never hold back their thoughts and emotions and urged them not to worry about ridicule if they are different, confident, brilliant and talented.

He also took time to remember his brother, Ethan, who would have graduated with this year’s seniors if not for a fatal car crash in 2005.

“I don’t want to scare you, but you never know when your last eight seconds will be,” Dameron said, recounting his hospitalization and details of the sudden crash. “What will I do with my next eight seconds? Will you live? ... Go out and love every second of your life.”