Citrus Valley Graduates Urged to 'Pivot' Toward Passion at Commencement
Video still via Redlands Unified School District
CLASS banner bearer and commencement speaker Kiana Pizano addresses her peers.
By David James Heiss
Redlands News Collective
Football player David Michaels told his fellow graduates-to-be, “At Citrus Valley we’ve been so fortunate to have peers that support each other every day, along with teachers and staff that encourage us to be ourselves, and to be successful.”
Michaels encouraged his peers to be their authentic selves, said during Citrus Valley High School’s commencement at the Redlands Bowl on June 2.
“Do not spend your life trying to follow the path somebody else already made,” Michaels said. “Do not try to be the next somebody. Be bold enough to be the first you.”
As senior speaker Kiana Pizano prepared for her address to her classmates, she joked that she felt underqualified.
“I realized something: I probably shouldn’t be giving 18-year-olds life advice when I don’t have it figured out myself — so if this goes wrong, just know I warned you,” Pizano said.
Instead, she shared wisdom from those who have been around a bit longer, offering advice adults said they would have given to their own 18-year-old selves: “Don’t stress, because everything is going to work out in the end,” and “Life is short, so don’t waste time overthinking the things that won’t matter later.”
Livestream video still via Redlands Unified School District
Basketball coach Yon Okorodudu takes a selfie with the graduates as he begins his commencement address.
Drawing from his experience as a basketball coach, commencement speaker Yon Okorodudu urged the nearly 500 graduates to “pivot” toward their passion, “multiple times in your life if you have to.”
Okorodudu is a colon cancer survivor who worked as an attorney, a financial adviser and a sports agent before he realized his wife, Jana Bailey, consistently seemed fulfilled and happy whenever she came home from teaching.
He explained that “pivoting is the ability and willingness to change direction, and to seek a different path.” While he held high-paying careers in his lifetime, he told the crowd he was never happy in those roles.
He pivoted into education, where he found his passion. Three decades later, he used the commencement stage to teach one final lesson to the seniors before him.
“Don’t wait for near-death experiences to get you to pivot towards your passion,” Okorodudu said.