Headmaster Will King and Adm. Gary Roughead

Graduation speaker Adm. Gary Roughead urged students to pursue leadership and learning during Norfolk Collegiate School’s 45th annual commencement ceremony on Friday, May 23. During the ceremony, the 78 members of the Class of 2008 received diplomas.

"Each of you are going to be challenged in your own way," Roughead said. "Chose to lead rather than to follow." During his speech, Roughead shared his experiences as senior Naval officer during the relief operations following the Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

"Prepare yourself each day," he said. "Never stop learning, never stop reading and never stop thinking about the challenges of the future."

Roughead, the senior military officer of the Department of the Navy, is a four-star admiral and is responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the command, utilization of resources and operating efficiency of the operating forces of the Navy and of the Navy shore activities assigned by the Secretary. A member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Roughead is the principal naval adviser to the President and to the Secretary of the Navy on the conduct of war, and is the principal adviser and naval executive to the Secretary on the conduct of activities of the Department of the Navy.

During the ceremony, Valedictorian Juliana Porter told her classmates to "Never let anyone tell you what you can't do." She concluded her speech by saying, "Pursue your passions, follow your dreams and everything else will fall into place." 

To see photographs from the event, click here.