Westside Comprehensive High School honored its 2024 graduating class, Thursday morning at the James Brown Arena.
The commencement exercises began at 11 a.m., with more than 180 graduate candidates processing into the auditorium.
The AP high school’s Class of 2024 boasted a STAR Student, valedictorian Casey Fowler, a TEDx Youth Presenter, Mudia Ogala, and more than $4 million in scholarships awarded among the classmates. This year also saw Westside’s boys basketball team win the AA state championship for the third year in a row.
Fowler, who plans to study computer engineering at Augusta University and eventually work with AI software, attributes his achievement to “consistency,” and the encouragement of his grandmother. After the ceremony, he was still reeling from the experience, saying, “the nervousness is all gone… but it’s also kind of surreal. It doesn’t feel real yet.”
Honor graduate Brooklyn McCray, who plans to study biology at university before going to med school to be come an OB/GYN, felt “overwhelmed” but “relieved.”
“What got me here is, definitely, hard work,” she said, also lauding the encouragement of her parents. “Long nights and long days.”
In his address to fellow students, salutatorian Caleb Mathis, an aspiring naval officer, expressed gratitude to the school’s teachers and administrators before exhorting his classmates to also recognize themselves for their own part in their success.
“None of this would have been possible without you. You got up at four, five or six in the morning every day, you stayed up until three in the morning to finish that assignment, you got dressed this morning for your graduation,” said Mathis. “So thank yourself, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
Fowler, in his address as valedictorian, encouraged graduates to be confident in their choices as they create their own futures. “We make choices daily. While it may not always be the best, do not let one bad decision define you, but also don’t let one great success overshadow your character,” he said. “Assemble all the choices that you’ve made with your life, and then ask are you the person that you would like to be. If not, you can change that, you are who you choose to be. Ultimately the choice is ours.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
