Portsmouth Abbey Graduation 2017

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PORTSMOUTH — On May 28, Portsmouth Abbey School cekebrated their annual commencement exercises as diplomas were conferred upon 92 graduates.

The ceremony began with an invocation from the Right Reverend Dom Matthew Stark, O.S.B., followed by the School’s Schola singing the Pater Noster. Chairman of the Board of Regents W. Christopher Behnke welcomed students, family and friends and delivered a message to the class, encouraging them to always be true to themselves. Headmaster Daniel McDonough then reminded the class that the deep bonds formed while at Portsmouth Abbey will not dissipate with time. In fact, what was learned at the Abbey will carry on through college.

The commencement address was given by alum Charles E. Kenahan, who heads one of the largest wealth management teams in the United States for Merrill Lynch. He is also the father of three Portsmouth Abbey graduates. He encouraged the seniors to be passionate, make mistakes, but most importantly, learn from those mistakes and always “Do what you say you’re going to do.”

“Finally, I want to thank the monks for their friendship and guidance in my life,” he added. “Besides God himself and my parents, no one else has had a more powerful force on my life than the monks at Portsmouth Abbey.”

In a special address to her peers, graduate Alice Vergara said it would be very difficult to reduce the Abbey experience to a few quickly read pages.

“All the friendships, all the feelings, all that we’ve gone through together here for the past four years won’t fit on this little lectern, or even under this huge tent,” she said. “So thank you class of 2017 for giving me too much to say, too many memories, and too many lessons. I’ll remember them forever.”

In his speech, Kaiwen (Kevin) Jiang explained that despite the differences among his classmates, they share one very important connection — the Abbey.

“We have built our lives, friendships, memories, and experiences upon this convergent point, and now it’s time for us to diverge,” he said. “In the future, maybe some of us will converge again. Maybe not. But no matter where we are, what we do, or who we are in the future, we will always be connected and influenced by this special bond.”