Tracy graduates celebrated with hugs, smiles and handshakes as they prepared to receive their diplomas Sunday. A total of 56 seniors graduated in the TAHS class of 2025.

TRACY — The big moment had finally arrived for Tracy Area High School seniors.

“This is the day we’ve been dreaming of, waiting for and working toward for years. It’s a day that marks the end of one chapter and the exciting beginning of the next,” said TAHS student Abigail Chandler.

It was time to celebrate, Chandler said.

Tracy area community members celebrated the class of 2025 at commencement ceremonies on Sunday. A total of 56 TAHS graduates received their diplomas. The class salutatorian and valedictorian were also announced. Alex Munson was named salutatorian, and Marin Knott was named valedictorian.

Student speakers at commencement followed a TAHS tradition of reflecting on their class’s past, present and future.

“It has been a long journey here,” Knott said, looking back on the class’s past. Members of the class of 2025 had grown up together, sharing a lot of different experiences. “We have seen each other go through every phase of our lives up to this point,” she said.

Some of the big challenges included having their seventh-grade year cut short during the COVID pandemic, and coming back to school in the Veterans Memorial Center instead of traditional classrooms.

“The last couple years have been filled with growth,” Knott said. “One of the most important things that we did together was answer the question: what do you want to be when you grow up? I can confidently say that there were no better people to grow up with, and I wouldn’t change any of our experiences because they shaped us into the people we’ve grown to be.”

Chandler said graduation day carried a lot of feelings with it.

“It’s a feeling of pride, relief, excitement and maybe a little bit of nervousness all mixed into one,” she said. “There’s something powerful about being fully present today. After years of counting down to the next thing – the next test, the next grade – today, we pause. We stop counting and start celebrating.”

Chandler said she wanted to thank all the teachers, school staff, and parents and guardians who helped get graduates to this point.

Jonathan Reyes Rodriguez said being asked to speak about the class’s future made him nervous at first.

“Then it hit me, that it wasn’t about being perfect. It was about stepping up,” he said. Reyes Rodriguez said that was the approach he hoped his fellow graduates would take in the next part of their lives.

“The truth is, the future is scary, but we can’t freeze in fear,” he said. He challenged classmates to move forward “not with perfection, but with intention.”

“Never take a single day for granted. Life’s not always easy, but it’s always worth showing up,” he said.