Sweltering heat and humidity didn’t stop the excitement at Edwardsburg High School Sunday afternoon as 181 graduates awaited the moment they’d been waiting years for.

Eager to finally obtain their diplomas and air out their stuffy blue and orange gowns, the seniors said their final goodbyes to EHS.

“We are moving into new territory,” said Salutatorian Michalina Badur of Edwardsurg. “We will probably make mistakes and get it wrong more than once.”

Co-valedictorians were Madeline Smous and Katelyn Harvey, both of Niles.

“We are a class of close relationships,” Harvey said. “We’re ready to learn and be the people we want to be.”

Smous used a prop in her speech — a wooden graduate marionette that balanced “work” and “play” with movable arms.

“Life can’t be all fun and games, because if that were the case, there’d be a lot less people here today getting diplomas,” Smous said.

She prompted a roar of applause when she closed her speech with: “Class of 2011, the world is your litterbox. Go forth and do your business.”

The EHS band performed “Pomp and Circumstance” and “Solas Ane” and the EHS choir sang “Stand by Me.”

Senior Class President Justine Ely also gave a speech during the turning of the tassels.

Ushers were Timothy Bond and Ashton Sova, who are ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2012.

The commencement guest speaker was 1959 Elkhart High School graduate Jack Cittadine, a project manager and attorney in private practice and former FBI special agent and associate professor. A self-proclaimed student, Cittadine said new graduates need to be competitive internationally to find work.

“We will not win with a (national) dropout rate of one out of three,” he said.

He also gave words of advice, quoting well-known historical figures like President Harry Truman and cowboy/comedian Roy Rogers.

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket,” he said, quoting Rogers.

Cittadine also offered his “Rules of Life,” including reading the Ten Commandments for its moral values; never letting a party or religion “do your thinking for you;” remembering The Golden Rule (“Even those who don’t deserve it — we all end up in the same place”); and learning from your mistakes.

“Love is the final triumph,” Cittadine said. “Everyone dies — the difference is how you lived your life.”