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Gaithersburg's Class of 2011 Urged to 'Dream Big'

Manuel Scott, a Freedom Writer, told the grads to never give up on their dreams.

Amid heart-felt and stirring oratory, Gaithersburg High School's Class of 2011 turned the page on four years of trial and triumph on Friday, ceremonially embarking on the hundreds of diverging paths that lay ahead of them.

Principal Christine Handy-Collins highlighted some of the class's accomplishments: nearly $10 million in scholarships; the undefeated state-champion Lady Trojans basketball team; regional championships in football and baseball; and Gaithersburg winning the state sportsmanship award. 

"Trojan pride is on the rise," she said at Friday's commencement at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

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Senior class sponsor Hannah Carlton encouraged the graduates to set and chase after goals of their own."It is your time to be successful, however you define success," she said.

The ceremony peaked with a parable of frustration, defiance and determination.

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Manuel Scott, one of The Freedom Writers, began his keynote speech by softly singing the gospel standard If I Can Help Somebody as I Pass Along. Saying he was born into a "beautiful but broken family," he spoke of the importance of community and thanked everyone who had poured themselves into this year's class of graduates.

Scott recalled his father’s imprisonment, his abusive stepfather, his childhood spent in two dozen homes, and at times being homeless. It made him doubt that anyone cared about his family. He dragged that anguish with him into school and fell behind as a result, missing two or three months per year from fourth through ninth grade until he finally dropped out altogether.

When one of his close friends was killed, he could only say to himself, "Every time I try, I get knocked down. …Why should I try?”

The turning point came when someone approached him with a challenge. 

"Just because you live in the 'hood doesn’t mean the 'hood has to live in you," the man told him, Scott said. "You can create a better life for your family … a future that is better than the past."

Scott had been blaming everyone else for his problems, he said. Slowly, he accepted that he could not control what happened, but he could control his response. That opened his eyes to a dream of "breaking the cycle," he said.

He rededicated himself in school and became the first member of his family to graduate. He went on to earn two bachelor’s degrees and a master's degree, and is working on his doctorate. He is now happily married and has three children. 

Scott encouraged the new graduates to "dream big" and to "use haters as your elevators on your way to the top."

"Hold on to the dream that you have," he said.

The ceremony drew to its close as senior class president Shannon Taruc gave her farewell address and led the graduates as they turned their tassels, setting off the Class of 2011's final high school act.

In one last outburst of revelry and celebration, hundreds of caps arced wildly into the air.

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