Vigo Virtual Success Academy students celebrate graduation
Fifty-four Vigo Virtual Success Academy seniors had the opportunity to walk across the South Vigo High School auditorium stage during Friday’s graduation program.
Principal Cindi Hrovat told school district leaders, “With your initiative to think beyond a traditional brick and mortar school, we are able to give students a chance to continue their education that truly benefited them in their own unique way.”
Student speaker Isabel Nevia Pohlar said that four years ago, she could never have imagined speaking before a large group at a graduation ceremony.
“I started with VVSA so I could find a way to manage my mental health while still learning,” she said. When she was asked to be the speaker, “I was reminded of how much progress I have made and how this program gave me the chance to do so.”
She’s had severe social anxiety her entire life, she said before the program.
Pohlar told the large gathering that she’s proud of what she’s accomplished, “and that’s enough for me … My mother and father taught me that before I seek to be the greatest in the world, or best of the best, being my best self is already enough and that’s the most important thing.”
She told graduates, “You don’t need to compete with anyone, but yourself … In today’s world, where everyone aims to be famous or an influencer, be that individual who aims for value and purpose.”
Pohlar said that “being a kind-hearted, generous and faithful person to those around you will take you places.”
She encouraged graduates to pursue their dreams and ambitions and not hold themselves back out of fear of what others will say if they fail.
“Every one of us has something that could be our gift to the world. The only obstacle keeping you from your dreams is the limitation that you have set to yourself,” she said. “Once you choose to believe that you can, regardless of the situation and challenges, you become unstoppable.”
She plans to study sonography at Ivy Tech.
Superintendent Chris Himsel’s comments had a theme similar to Pohlar’s.
Success “is not about what other people define as success. It’s not about what other people define who you should be,” he said. “It’s about being comfortable with who you are and achieving all you are capable of achieving. And if you do that, you’ve achieved success, even if it doesn’t quite match up with the definitions of those around you.”
Those gathered for commencement Friday were there to celebrate “a group of kids who didn’t give up, who may have found a different path than other people, but they found a path to find success” on their own terms, he said.
Also graduating Friday was Krislyn Moreland, who took classes through VVSA for three years.
She liked the ability to make her own schedule “and have that kind of freedom and I felt the curriculum was more challenging. It was just a better fit for me,” she said before the program.
She will go to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and hopes for a career in publishing.
Another graduate, Devan Couthen, said after the program that it felt good to finish high school. He’s not sure what’s next, but he planned to take some time Friday to celebrate his major milestone.
