Middletown grads excited for future, cherish memories from last four years

Madisyn Ledder was worried she wasn’t going to graduate on time with the rest of her peers from Middletown High School this year.

During Middletown High’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday afternoon, school Principal Bernard Quesada highlighted Ledder and her journey to getting her diploma during his remarks to the class of 2024.

Photos: Middletown High School Commencement Ceremony

Ledder was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Ewing sarcoma before her freshman year.

The disease would affect her ability to move her legs and required treatments and physical therapy to relearn how to walk, all while trying to keep up with her schoolwork and peers, Quesada said in his speech.

Quesada asked Ledder to stand up to be recognized, and the crowd of fellow graduates around her and the audience in Mount St. Mary’s University’s Knott Arena burst into cheers and applause.

Ledder said several family members of hers came to the ceremony, including her two brothers, her parents, aunt and grandparents. She plans to attend Frostburg State University to study physical therapy.

“It feels pretty good. It was really special,” she said. “... It was tough. I tried to be perfect, I tried to get good grades and stuff, but balancing health and school and life — it gets a little crazy sometimes.”

Ledder was one of 276 graduating seniors, according to a program for the ceremony.

Two of the graduates, Logan Kuhn and Catrina Kahihikolo who were part of the senior class executive board, spoke at the event.

They encouraged their fellow graduates to cherish the memories they made over the last four years and carry them into the future.

Kuhn said he couldn’t help but think that it was a beautiful day on Tuesday, but not because of the warm, sunny weather — it was because of the graduating class.

“I believe that the most beautiful part of today is not where you’ve been, but where you are going. Never before have I felt so much potential from a single group,” he said. “So long as you listen to yourself and remember where you’ve been, there will be plenty more beautiful days just like this one.”

Kahihikolo said in her speech that when she was younger, she used to correlate age with freedom — the older a person was, the more freedom they had to do whatever they wanted.

But now as a graduate, she feels a variety of emotions: excitement for what’s to come and fear of the unknown.

As children, she said, she and the other graduates got to live in a sort of bubble, and their graduation marks them leaving that bubble.

“We no longer get to see each other at the end of each summer. ... Now, we have the memories,” she said. “Some of us want to remain children forever. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible for us, so cherish the memories and the friends you’ve made. The real world isn’t far.”

Several of the graduates, such as Christian and Natalia Scott, are siblings who got to achieve this milestone together and watch each other walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

Both siblings said they were involved in their local church, with Natalia Scott helping to teach kindergartners and first graders and Christian Scott assisting with audio and sound.

Natalia Scott will be attending Pennsylvania State University to study psychology, and Christian Scott plans to go to the University of Texas, San Antonio, to study cybersecurity. Both said they were excited to go to an out-of-state college.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m very ecstatic about it. I think once we leave for college, it’s really going to hit us,” Christian Scott said.

Natalia Scott said she’s glad she gets to enter adulthood and receive her diploma with her brother by her side, and Christian Scott agreed, saying it makes the transition from high school to adult life feel less intimidating.

“I love my twin so much. I love growing up with him. I’m really thankful to have grown up with him, and now, I’m graduating with him,” Natalia Scott said. “I’m very, very happy about that, very excited. I’m glad I have my built-in best friend with me.”