Niles community celebrates Class of 2025

Published 10:20 pm Thursday, May 29, 2025

By Max Harden

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NILES — The Niles community gave a rousing sendoff to the 167 members of the Class of 2025 at Vikings Stadium for the 163rd Niles High School commencement ceremony Thursday evening.

Following the performance of “For Good” by Stephen Lawrence Schwartz by the Niles High School Choir, three seniors – Alexa Garcia, Brian Young and Abigail Talley – took to the podium as senior speakers addressing to give one last speech to their classmates, teachers and community.

“I hope every single one of you embraces your own presence,” Garcia said. “Use that time to grow, to look back and understand yourself in ways you haven’t before. The more you become comfortable with yourself, the more you realize that you don’t need anyone else to tell you that you’re enough. You’ll already know it and that in itself is the most powerful feeling of all.”

“Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times by book publishers, but went on to win numerous awards, including two Emmys for writing and animation,” Young said. “Just because you were rejected, doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. Dr. Seuss captured it perfectly: ‘why fit it in when you can stand it out?’ Take that first step in your own direction. Strive to be yourself.”

Talley closed her speech encouraging her fellow classmates to pay attention to what moves them.

“Pay attention to people who show up for you, even when it’s inconvenient,” Talley said. “Pay attention to the things that move your heart because the only thing more important than all of the things you’ll achieve is what you care about while you’re doing them. We don’t need more perfect people. We need more honest ones.”

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