CALEXICO — Administrators gave the graduates of the Class of 2025 of Vincent Memorial Catholic High School a warm sendoff to all different corners of the nation and world.
Father Mark Edney celebrated a Baccalaureate Mass for the 90 graduates on May 23 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. In his homily, he told the graduates that it was important to continue their friendship with Christ throughout their lives.
And he asked them where they planned to go to college, if that’s the route they were taking.
“I’m going to Boston,” responded Lucía Uro, the class valedictorian. The graduate, who had a 4.67 GPA, said she planned to study neuroscience at Boston College.
“Guadalajara,” responded another graduate, Jorge Fiorentini, a basketball standout at the school.
“I’m going to Spain,” said another graduate, adding that he planned to study finance in Salamanca.
“Paris … to study French,” still another answered, prompting Father Edney to respond to her in French, which itself prompted laughter among those on hand.
Eight of the graduates received the California Scholarship Federation Lifetime Award for their significant academic achievements. A total of 66 graduates were designated as Fidelity Students, who had received all of their schooling in Catholic schools. A dozen families were named “Fidelity Families” — families that had all of the children in their immediate family attend Catholic schools and to graduate from Vincent Memorial.
“I have been attending a Catholic school my entire life,” Uro said in an interview. “I definitely love Vincent Memorial,” which is the only Catholic high school in the Imperial Valley.
“It’s such a special place, such a special community,” she continued, “and I’ve learned to take advantage of every opportunity here. It really prepared me for the real world.
“I’ve always wanted to keep going (in Catholic education) because I feel like it really instilled a lot of great values and virtues in my life.”
For his part, Fiorentini said, “I will always remember all of my friendships because we are a small school, so everyone knows each other.”
And he spoke about the most important lesson he learned.
“I think what helps us is to always put God first. No matter what, our faith is the most important thing, and we cannot be successful in the world if we don’t put our faith first,” he said.
The graduation also marked the first class at Vincent Memorial under a new principal, Sister Patricia Rodriguez, a native of the Mexicali-Imperial Valley region.
During commencement, the principal encouraged the graduates to “invite God in all that you do. … He will always be waiting for you.”
