Advice to Graduates

Nov 10, 2023

A new chapter

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!As you begin this new chapter, walk confidently with the foundation you received in your schooling, the love you felt from your family and the faith you received from church. An entire community is proud of your accomplishments! Never forget, the porch light is always on in Brooksville when you want to come home.

Best Wishes,Mayor Blake Bell(Hernando High Class of 2002)

Put down the phone

Be a part of your life. Put down the phone. Look around you at all of the goodness you miss staring at them funny cat memes or TikTok videos of folks lip syncing. Don't be afraid to meet folks; look em in the eye, ask them how their day is going. Introduce yourself and be a present in a real conversation. Sure, you’ve probably got a few thousand social media friends you’ll never meet. What a shame if you don't meet and make friends right here in your own town. There's an awful lot of good in folks around here. Put down your phone and experience some of it.

Toby Benoit

Character and morals are absolutes

To all the new graduates –

Congratulations! You made it! Now life really begins. As you move into the workforce or perhaps higher education, remember that your future is only limited by your choices. Stay true to yourself and work towards your dreams. You literally can do ANYTHING!Remember that your character and morals define you in the eyes of others and in the mirror of your own soul. Like truth, these are never relative; they are absolutes. Lastly, love others. "People will not remember you for the things you said or the things you did. They will remember you for how you made them feel."

Mark Stone

Today's difficulties may not be tomorrow's

Tomorrow is always full of promise and possibility. Never judge today's difficulty as the way life will be tomorrow. It rarely is. As you approach each day, I hope you carry these truths with you: 1. There are so many more good people in the world than it sometimes appears. Find them, keep them close and form a shelter against the unkind. 2. If you experience moments of sadness, find ways to serve others. There is a certain joyful magic that happens when we look outside of ourselves to help others.Finally, 3. It's not you. Setbacks in life happen so that just the right opportunities can find you! Seek them out, be ready and keep trying. On behalf of your teachers, administrators and school board, we know you can do it and we can't wait to see how far you go! All the best to each of you!

Superintendent John Stratton

A responsibility to do good

The Tax Redevelopment Advisory Committee (TRAC) of South Brooksville would like to thank the Class of 2023 for all your hard work to reach this milestone in your life. Find someone you trust to guide you. Choose a job and career that makes you happy. Step out on your faith and be adventurous. Get involved in your church and community. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Give one hundred percent in all that you do. Remember that there is a higher power that you serve and you have a responsibility to do good in life.

Sincerely,Connie F. Green,President, Tax Redevelopment Advisory Committee(TRAC)

Continue to evaluate and assess

Graduates,Congratulations for having completed this part of your journey. As you move into the next chapter of your life look to continue to evaluate and assess your passions, career, and life options weekly. Search for what you really want out of life and seek out dependable mentors and life coaches for counsel in those pursuits. Learn to study your failures as they will be one of your greatest tools in the pursuit of success and before all else learn the importance of trusting and having faith in God.

–Timothy L. Beard, Ph.D., PHSC Presiden

Allow all to live in peace

You have completed a chapter that begins a lifelong journey to an education. Never stop reading, watching and listening to all sources and all views on issues. Be critical and accept that all individuals came by their beliefs honestly. You are right and they are right. Allow all individuals to live in peace.

Jim BandySpring Hill

Prisons are full of good people who made bad choices

Dear 2023 Graduates,Passion for Prison Inc would like to remind you that prisons and jails are full of all of a lot of very good people that made a one-time poor choice, and those momentary actions can sometimes have lifelong consequences.Therefore, we would like to encourage you to take every thought captive before you take any action, because it could very well affect not only your near future, but also the rest of your life.It is our prayer that you will continue to have a hunger for knowledge and a thirst for righteousness, so that you will become a beacon of Light in all that you do, no matter where life will take you.We’re praying for your continued success throughout whatever is placed before you, and that you will make others so very proud of you by your choices in life!

With Love, The PfP Team

Reflect on your experiences

Graduates,We celebrate your accomplishments with great excitement. Your hard work, dedication, and tenacity has taken you thus far and those characteristics will continue to be vital in the next season of your lives. This pivotal moment serves as a symbolic springboard towards vast opportunities for personal, familial and community enrichment. As you cherish it remember to reflect on your experiences and use them to help navigate your next life endeavors.

— Stanley Giannet, Ph.D., PHSC Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer

"Do what you love – the money will come."Pat Raia

To the Class of 2023; you are graduating into a hyper-polarized society but that doesn't mean you have to follow the crowd. Learn to listen to opposing opinions, then strengthen your argument or modify your position. Question the prevailing world views; disagree if you must, but don't be disagreeable. Remember that leaders lead (from the front), they don't point from behind.

John AlloccoChairmanHernando Board of County Commissioners

YOU DID IT!CongratulationsHernando County Students "Class of 2023"- YOU DID IT! Your perseverance and hard work have taken you to graduation and to this moment, ready to use your Knowledge, Training and Wisdom to pursue all your dreams. I wish you the greatest success. I wish you continued growth. Never forget that life's Success is all about the roads you’ll choose to travel and the people you keep in your heart to take along with you!

I am so proud of you all! Go out and make a difference!

Gus Guadagnino