Tuning in for speeches

Jade Hanson
May 26, 2020

  • Senior Hamdia Idow will attend St Kates University to study Nursing – Photo submitted by Hamdia Idow

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  • Senior Elise Sande will attend the College of Saint Benedict to major in communications and marketing, minor in spanish, and dance on their competitive dance team – Photo submitted by Elise Sande

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  • Senior Joseph Brueggemeier will attend the University of St. Thomas studying U.S. Government and Political Science – Photo submitted by Joseph Brueggemeier

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As the end of the 2019-2020 school year approaches, OHS is finalizing commencement ceremony details. This year looks a lot different than past years, but the speeches composed by the commencement speakers of the graduating class are still very important aspects of the upcoming ceremony on June 7, 2020. Seniors had the opportunity to try out for the role as a commencement speaker, and after some deliberation done by the administration: Elise Sande, Hamdia Idow and Joey Brueggermeier were named the commencement speakers of the Class of 2020.

Sande is very excited to speak and celebrate with her classmates as they enter a new phase of their lives, even though it looks different this year. Her speech consists of a walk down memory lane of the past four years at OHS. She said, “Although we have lost so many things due to the state of the world, I still wanted to highlight the wins we have had as a class.”  She plans to attend the College of Saint Benedict to major in communications and marketing, and minor in Spanish. In addition, she will be dancing on their competitive dance team. Sande believes that OHS has equipped her with the tools necessary to achieve greatness in her future, not only the classes, but the extracurriculars high school has offered has made a huge impact in her life.

Idow came to OHS as a senior, and she has been so grateful for her experience at OHS, from her peers to her teachers and the staff. Her speech will consist of both new beginnings, and closing to this moment of life. She feels that even her short time at OHS has prepared her for the outside by showing her how amazing yet challenging the world can be. Idow’s biggest influence has been her mother, as she said, “She never gives up on me no matter what.” Idow will be attending St. Kate’s University to fulfill her dream of being a nurse. 

Brueggermeier wrote his speech as he was mentally rummaged through all the great memories and accomplishments of the Class of 2020. His speech takes students back 1,370 days, as they came into OHS as freshmen, and today leave as graduating seniors. Brueggermeier expressed an abundance of passion when talking about what he is going to miss, as he said, “I think our generation has this false label that we don’t know how to have a conversation with one another. This is entirely false and the class of 2020 is all the evidence we need to debunk this. Examples being the creation of DIG by members of our class and conversations about societal issues. We have an innate ability to have open-minded problem-solving conversations.” Brueggermeier will attend the University of St. Thomas studying U.S. Government and Political Science, on a Pre-Law track to become a lawyer.

Commencement will be held at 2 p.m. for a drive-in graduation ceremony at Federated Insurance – AT Annexstad Building, (West Parking Lot at 1929 South Cedar Avenue Owatonna, MN 55060.) The ceremony will be broadcast live on radio stations AM 1390 KRFO and FM 100.9 KOWZ.