'The night we work towards': North Quincy celebrates 90th graduating class

Peter Blandino, The Patriot Ledger
Updated ·5 min read

QUINCY − For North Quincy High School Principal Daniel Gilbert, Tuesday's commencement was bittersweet.

"Honestly, I'm a bit sad," said Gilbert, who just finished his first academic year at North Quincy and was saying goodbye to the Class of 2023.

He encouraged the graduates to develop a passion.

"Passion can't be found," Gilbert said. "It has to be cultivated. It's important to pay attention to the signposts that provide hints to your passion."

Salutatorian and Harvard-bound Kaitlyn Vu gives her graduation address during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Salutatorian and Harvard-bound Kaitlyn Vu gives her graduation address during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Veterans Memorial Stadium was awash in North Quincy red Tuesday night as the graduates received their diplomas. Dignitaries in attendance to congratulate the school's 90th graduating class included city councilors, members of the city's congressional delegation, school committee members and Mayor Thomas Koch, a member of North Quincy's Class of 1981.

Class salutatorian Kaitlyn Vu's speech reflected on the theme of pride. Vu, who will attend Harvard in the fall, said high school changed her understanding of pride, from "validation from others" to a "source of individual strength." Vu also recalled moments she's not proud of, when her ego got the better of her.

"Our imperfections and self-awareness keeps our pride in check," Vu said. "Pride only works when it's accompanied by humility."

North Quincy High School Principal Daniel Gilbert thanks students and parents for making his first year as principal a memorable one during the school's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
North Quincy High School Principal Daniel Gilbert thanks students and parents for making his first year as principal a memorable one during the school's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Class valedictorian Dominique Dang, who will attend MIT in the fall, was a minute into her speech when she cut it short and revealed that her entire introduction was composed by the artificial intelligence application ChatGPT. What followed focused on changing technology and what makes human beings unique.

"Robots cannot replace empathy and curiosity," Dang said.

Mayor Thomas P. Koch, North Quincy High School class of '81, addresses graduates on Tuesday June 6, 2023
Mayor Thomas P. Koch, North Quincy High School class of '81, addresses graduates on Tuesday June 6, 2023

"We went through many updates and versions of ourselves in high school − what worked and what didn't," Dang said. "But unlike AI, we created our identities and personalities."

Dang urged her classmates to "stay curious" and said "the experience of love, empathy and hope are our strongest tools."

Valedictorian Dominique Dang receives her diploma from Principal Daniel Gilbert during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Valedictorian Dominique Dang receives her diploma from Principal Daniel Gilbert during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Koch noted the communal effort involved in education.

"This is the night we work towards," Koch said. "Everybody was working toward your individual success."

He concluded with words of advice for the graduates: "Find your passion, work hard, be kind."

The Class of 2023

Chika Akukwe, Brianna Alvarado, Sachi Andrade, Max Arghand, Michelle Arceo Graniel, Jeremihah Armstrong, Amariana Astacio, Liam Bailey, Olivia Bailey, Daniel Ballerino, Ines Barros, Joseph Bates, Joshua Bauman, Naiara Bautista Minaya, Pratham Bhatt, Kate Billard, Kevin Blido, Julian Bokulich, Tristan Bowler, Anya Brenner, Benyapa Bunrueng, Sean Burns, Thomas Cail, Nathan Caldwell, Liam Callard, Morgan Calvert, Bridget Capone, Sam Carroll, Jack Cavicchi, Dahua Cen, Robert Chambers-Holland, Brian Chan, Bryan Chan, Candace Chan, Natalie Chan, Olivia Chan, Yuet Chan, Yvonne Chan, Williniam Chao, Dina Che, Arnold Chen, Brian Chen, Donna Chen, Hanying Chen, Helen Chen, Jennifer Chen, Jessica Chen, Jessica Chen, JiaMing Chen, Jingen Chen, Justin Chen, Shuyi Chen, Vanessa Chen, Xingyu Chen, Yonglin Chen, Yumi Chen, Colin Cheng, Anthony Cheung, Erica Cheung, Yumiko Chow, Melanie Chretien, Ammar Chunda, Shaelyn Clark, Dylan Clifford, Liam Cody, Ava Coffey, Jamie Collins, Davius Concepcion, Christopher Conneely, Oisin Coogan-Coyne, Jason Cooper, Nathan Cooper, Caitlin Cormican, Katelyn Craig, Norah Cronin.

Sulekha Hussein looks for her family in the stands during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Sulekha Hussein looks for her family in the stands during North Quincy High School's commencement ceremony at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

David D´Antona, Joyce Ferreira da Rocha, Dominique Dang, Nathan Davis, Benjamin Dawe, Julian De Jesus, Sophia Pinto De Lima, Carolina de Souza, Kyle DeBoer, Ava DeLuca, Wendell Descartes, Joycelynn Diep, Mary Dineen, Thien Dinh, Connor Donovan, Alexander Duane, Kevin Duong, Kristen Duong, Maya Egan, Nicholas Enbar-Salo, Urangoo Enkhjargal, Elijah Eno, Anthony Enos Jr., Gavin Eve, Weifeng Fang, Caitlin Feeney, Juntao Feng, Artiom Fernandez Correa, Matthew Fitzgerald, Wing Fong, Vivian Fu, Alexis Gambini Arana, Linda Gao, Yixiang Gao, Ella Gates, Julia Gillespie, Aidalee Giordano, Claudio Gomes-Cardoso,  Huixian Guan, Ashna Guha, Ira Habiba, Cady Hansbury, Ajanae Harmon, Maura Hays, Jason He, Jianjun He, Jonathan Ho, Nathan Ho, Van Hoang, Anthony Holmes, Alan Huang, Jiahong Huang, Ken Huang, Megan Huang, Nikki Huang, Oscar Huang, William Huang, Xu Huang, Sulekha Hussein.

Homeroom teacher Jennifer Shaw shares a warm hug with student Naiara Bautista Bates. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023
Homeroom teacher Jennifer Shaw shares a warm hug with student Naiara Bautista Bates. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023

Elton Huynh, Sophia Jackson, Katie Jiang, Ramire Johnson, Graeme Johnston, Kendall Kazmouski, Helen Ke, Noah Kearney, Aliyan Kiani, Emma Kinsley, Ciara Knight, Jackie Kuang, Ethan King-Lam Kwong, Lauren Lai, Ebony Lake, Caleb Lam, Michaela Lam, Vincent Lam, Beck Lamotte, Jefferson Laurette, Donald Le, Jack Le, William Le, Jennifer Lee, Kayla Lew, Alex Li, Annie Li, Huoer Li, Isaac Li, Ivan Li, Jason Li, Jianing Li, Jiawen Li, Jiayi Li, Jinhong Li, Kaitong Li, Hengwei Liang, Sahara Liang, Xinyi Liang, Andrew Lim, Adam Lin, Hao Lin, Hedy Lin, Ivan Lin, Jerry Lin, Keyi Lin, Serena Lin, Anna Lindenfelzer, Allyson Liu, Eileen Liu, Xiaorong Liu, Christine Loney, Cristian Lopez Verapaz, Amy Lu, Miranda Luke, Hung Luong, Alyssa Ly, Tuan Ly, Michelle Ma, Zhenyu Ma, Matthew MacWhinnie, Heidi Malushi, John Malvesti, Klaudia Mance, Neil McCole III, Thomas McGillicuddy, Brendan McGourty, Molly McGovern, Giordano Mckenzie, Avery McNeely, Ailin Mei, Lily Mei, Dayanie Mejia Cisneros, Rene Micheli, Alexander Montero-Coste, Marcus Moore, Jerald Mortel, Melanie Moy, Nicholas Moy, Grant Murphy, Keira Murphy, Catherine Murray.

Class treasurer Nicholas Enbar-Salo finds a hidden $100 bill under his seat placed there by Frank Santoro of the school committee. Santoro said at least one person would remember his speech. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023
Class treasurer Nicholas Enbar-Salo finds a hidden $100 bill under his seat placed there by Frank Santoro of the school committee. Santoro said at least one person would remember his speech. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023

Mollie Nelson, Sophie Nerine, Abigail Newton, Isaac Ng, Anh Nguyen, Ashlee Nguyen, Brian Nguyen, Diana Nguyen, Hoang Nguyen, Huu Nguyen, Mai Nguyen, Ryan Nolen, Mitch O'Brien, Elizabeth O'Grady, Vincent O’Leary, Daniel Olubodun, Amanda O'Neill, Solana Ocean, Thanhy Ong, Haley Pagington, Yijing Pan, Mia Pecevich, Alex Pham, Khoa Pham, John Pickering, Cassidy Plante, Madeline Power, Margaret Power, Kevin Pritchard, Lingyu Qiu, Icyss Quinones, Herly Ramirez, Brandon Riley, Liam Rogers, Peter Romeo, Kimberly Rosa, Curtis Ru, ZiFeng Ruan, Tyler Ruo-Taylor, Mia Ryan, Yandiel Santana, Keiko Shafton, Vincent Shi, Emmaleigh Shiner, Zixian Situ, Asani Smith, Colin Smith, Marybeth Smith, Nathan Stagg, Alexander Stankov, Mary Stanton, Caitlin Stockdale, Adeline Sun.

Oisin Dermot Coogan-Coyne checks his diploma. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023
Oisin Dermot Coogan-Coyne checks his diploma. North Quincy High graduation exercises at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday June 6, 2023

Manlin Sun, Jeffrey Tam, Jinglin Tan, Nicolas Tang, Steven Tang, Zachary Taylor, Sabrina Teng, Lunn Tha, Samuel King, Ivy Tiet, Ryan Tobin, Jason Ton, Maxwell Toomey, Julia Tow, Giai Trac, Kha Trac, Antonie Tran,  Jada Tran, Lamborghini Tran, Lily Tran, Phuong Tran, Hogan Truong, Aaron Tsang, Oscar Vasquez Lopez, Steel Verrier, Kyle Vo, Andy Vu, Kaitlyn Vu, Robert Walinjom, Harry Wang, Jing Wang, Patrick Webber, Jason Wen, James Weng, Jialin Weng, Joe Whooley, Matthew Whooley, Anisah Williams, Carmen Wong, Stella Wong, Emily Wu, Isabelle Wu, Josie Wu,  Zeyi Xiao, Sophia Xie, Christina Xu, Kevin Xu, Qitong Xu, Tammie Xu, Yong Xu, Jocelyn Yee, Joey Yu, Yanfeng Yu, Jasmine Yuen, Alfonso Zeng, Emily Zeng, Jacky Zhang, Jacky Zhao, Weitian Zhao, Jiayu Zhen, Allen Zheng, Amy Zheng, Jason Zheng, Ray Zheng, Yuhang Zheng, Zixi Zheng, Brandon Zhou, Liting Zhou, Elaina Zou, Ivan Zou, Thomas Zou, Nora Zraizaa.                                     

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: North Quincy High School's Class of 2023 celebrates graduation