Pomp and Circumstance

Some will be attending prestigious Ivy League Schools. Others will be staying closer to home and attending Rutgers or TCNJ. Still others will be heading out of state, or starting careers in the military or reporting for their minor league baseball team.

Maybe some haven’t even decided what to do next.

But none of that matters right now. What matters for the 770-plus East Brunswick High School seniors this week is that they made it and that they’ll be saying goodbye to high school and hello to the future.

“I’ve been in the school system since the third grade, so it’s been the same kids, and I’ve been friends with the same people for that long, so it’s sad in some ways, but exciting at the same time,” said senior Daphna LeGall.

Graduation will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the Sun National Bank Center, Trenton, and seniors will not only be saying farewell to high school, but to a tight-knit community that has become as familiar and homey to them as their own families.

Daphna said she will be attending Princeton University, where she hopes to study psychology.

“I took AP psychology at the high school with Mr. Ambrosy, who was there for a few years and retired last year. I really enjoyed the class so that was a motivating factor,” she said.

Other seniors say they will draw on their time in scholastic sports as they look to the future. Nick Gudzak is heading to Widener University to play football and hopes to study business. He said his time playing football, basketball and lacrosse at EBHS are among the memories he’ll keep with him.

“All my sports experiences. Everything. Hanging out with my friends, but mostly my sports experiences. That’s where everything came from,” he said.

He said his success on the gridiron was more than just a school thing, but a family thing, since his brother, Anthony, also played. The pair teamed up to help lead the Bears to a Group 4 championship in 2009. 

“Just to be a part of that, it was just a great thing. I finished the game, I got the game ending interception, and my brother was a senior at that point and he got an interception too," he said.

While graduation will be held Monday, tune in to EBTV for a complete video recap of the ceremony Verizon Channel 37 Saturdays at 4 p.m., Sundays at 8 p.m. and Wednesdays at 1 p.m.

In addition, Commencement videos will be available for $20.  Place orders after July 1. Visit www.createspace.com/313038, www.ebtv3.org, or www.ebnet.org/EastBrunswick.cfm to order.