PROVIDENCE — White robed and gloved graduates, most negotiating high heels, hurried into the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul during steady rain on the evening of June 10, as the young ladies of St. Mary Academy – Bay View prepared to say their goodbyes to each other in the Class of 2013.
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After years of attending an all-girls school, Anea Garcia joked that it will take some getting used to when she begins classes this fall at Roger Williams University, which is coed.
“I'm going to miss just being myself with no boys to impress,” Garcia sighed with a smile.
Also processing in among the 131 graduates, a group which included a young woman whose parents came to America after fleeing the genocide in Cambodia, was Valedictorian Emily Petrie, who expressed that her education by the Mercy Sisters at Bay View was a very positive experience for her, and she was sad at now leaving her beloved school behind. In her case, she had been a student at Bay View since her primary years.
“Fourteen years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Graduation is like hearing your alarm clock. You want more than anything to stay in bed, but you have to get up and get going. Today we take the giant flying leap into adulthood. Soon we'll have to do taxes. That terrifies me,” she said to smiles from the crowd.
For encouragement, she quoted Audrey Hepburn who said, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible.’”
Songs performed by the powerful school choir and Petrie’s valedictory address were followed by teacher Patricia Williams, Class of 1958, who delivered the commencement address on the occasion of her retirement from the English department.
“I remember when Bay View was called 'St. Mary's Seminary for Young Ladies' and it was quiet between classes!” Williams joked, recalling uniforms with color-coded jackets for each high school year, skirts worn exactly at the knee and home economics class. She also reflected on what remains the same for the 2013 graduates: receiving a Mercy Education, which involves learning to appreciate what is good, true, and beautiful.
“Having a Mercy education means you know how to be of service to your fellows, and to respect all peoples, to be vital contributors to your communities,” she reminded the new graduates.
Armed with this Mercy Education, the Bay View graduates came forth to receive their diplomas, move their tassels, and sing their alma mater's song.
“You now have the freedom and power to pursue your gifts,” Bay View’s new president, Vittoria Pacifico-DeBenedictis, said, reiterating Mercy Education attributes on the occasion of the 137th commencement exercises of the school.
Encouraging the graduates to see themselves as individuals who had something to give to society, she deliberated on the “power of all girls [schools], having the safety and comfort to be themselves, to be less about others' approval and more about their class work.”
Nothing is more important to the good of society than the education of women,” the president added, quoting Mercy foundress Sister Katherine McAuley. “Chase the future, knowing we are behind you.”
One of those young women, Chandra Pen, overcame many challenges on her way to receiving a Bay View education.
Her parents had fled Cambodia during the brutal rule and genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge to a refugee camp in Thailand. Following an arranged marriage, her parents were eventually sponsored to relocate to the United States, where Pen was born and raised as a Buddhist. Beginning her education in Catholic schools, including Holy Name School in Fall River, she became interested in the faith early on, and in third grade began her conversion to Catholicism.
“Catholicism was the best fit for me. But at Bay View, we study many different religions, and I've learned an appreciation for them all,” Pen said of her alma mater.
Pen was honored during commencement with this year’s Francis Xavier Warde Woman of Courage Award, which is given annually to the graduating senior who exhibits character, strength and a commitment to personal goals.
“Receiving this award caught me entirely off guard. Many other students have also reached their personal goals and I feel they deserve it as well,” she admitted modestly.
She credits the strong support of her school community in guiding her to become a leader. This past year, she served as president of the Mercy Action Club, which raises money and offers volunteers for McAuley Village, a two-year transitional housing program for homeless single parents and their children.
Pen also helped to oversee an annual coffee house where proceeds would go to charities. She has volunteered at the John Hope Settlement House, which provides community outreach to children, youth and families. She said she doesn’t think she would have taken on such leadership roles if it weren't for Bay View.
“Embrace Bay View as best you can while you are here. Academically, Bay View sets the tone high; you work to make you and your school proud. The teachers have been so supportive, too,” Pen said.
Pen paid tribute to her guidance counselor, Amanda Juriansz, who encouraged her to apply to a college that would have otherwise been out of reach financially for her family.
“I'll miss Ms. Juriansz the most; she's been like a mother to me,” she said. “I don't think I could have made it without her. “
Alexandra Abreu
Maysun Alabi
Katherine Asquith
Josephine Baldwin-Beneich
Sarah Beaulieu
Christina Brazeau
Dylan Brekka
Julia Calise
Adrianna Cardillo
Chandler Cates-Wessel
Lauren Cavaco
Olivia Cece
Kayleigh Cooper
Alexandra Coppa
Emily Correia
Talia Corsinetti
Allison Courtemanche
Alana Richelle Craven
Kelly Cribari
Francesca Cserr
Katherine Curran
Brittany Dalphonse
Amanda daLuz
Mackenzie Daly
Katrina Damiani
Emma D'Arpino
Alana Davis
Amanda Della Grotta
Alexandra DiFilippo
Stephanie DiLucia
Holly DiMauro
Natalia DiNobile
Marguerite DiPietro
Andrea Dumon
Maggie Dunleavy
Taylor Farias
Elizah Farmer
Hannah Farmer
Katherine Fazioli
Brianna Feld
Natalie Fernandes
Isabella Fielding
Kayla Fleming
Emily French
Emily Furtado
Anea Garcia
Kimberly Grattan
Emma Hanlon
Jalysa Harrington
Emily Hodess
Kristina Horan
Jordyn Jagolinzer-Machado
Erica Johnson
Jordan Jones
Zoeline (Minnie) Keating
Sarah Kennedy
Bianca Kohler
Jamie Krause
Morgan Laiter
Hannah Langfield
Cassandra Layman
Hannah Lee
Soomin (Rosa) Lee
Kelsey Leonard
Bruna Lima
Xinru (Lucy) Lu
Diana Lucey
Eduarda Macera
Anarosa Madera
Kelsey Manfredi
Alexandra Marcus
Marina Martino
Merideth Matos
Courtney McArthur
Shannon McArthur
Katherine McMahon
Devon Medeiros
Jill Mennucci
Victoria Milhomens
Kasondra Moniz
Katherine Moran
Catherine Morse
Ashley Motta
Lauren Nadeau
Virginia Nunez
Erin O'Connell
Hanna Olton
Mariela O'Neill
Anwuli Onyejose
Brianna Pelletier
Chanda Pen
Emily Pepin
Diondra Perillo
Nicole Perkins
Emily Petrie
Mary Petronio
Marina Pin
Jamyla Polanco
Chiara Ponko
Courtney Ponte
Elisha Prata
Shyan Ramsey
Gaelin Reall
Elizabeth Riccio
Juliette Risica
Kayla Saucier
Casey Scanlon
Jessica Sciacca
Alexis Severance
Jessica Silvia
Lauren Simpson
Emma Smith
Aubrey Sneesby
Emily Sousa
Dylan Spets
Maryellen Surgento
Lindsay Tahan
Kendall Trautman
Madeline Tremont
Mariana Tzitzouris
Clara Vega
Yueyang (Stephanie) Wang
Julia Watson
Emily Whittum
Kiely Wilcox
Ziwei (Vivian) Wu
Lindsey Wunschel
Kaiyi (Chloe) Xu
Zan (Susan) Xu
Ziyu (Fiona) Ye
Bingying (Jo) Zhou
