SPRINGFIELD — With gowns shimmering in the opera theater lights, caps perched atop their heads and eyes looking to the future, the Cherry Valley-Springfield class of 2005 graduated Saturday afternoon at the Alice Busch Opera Theater.

"We are here to celebrate a milestone," said salutatorian Calyn Wissick. In her salutatory, Wissick compared the lives of the graduates to the acts of a play, with childhood being act one, high school act two and the days after graduation act three.

In act one, "nap time came too early" and "the biggest challenge was trying not to be tagged 'it,'" she said. Eventually, act one came to an end and with it high school.

"As a class, this was a time when we began our journey," she said. "Not only did the scenery change around us, but we as characters developed also."

She said the props, cast members and sets making up acts one and two were important, but the essential element was the audience.

"They supported us in every performance," Wissick said.

With the second act coming to a close Wissick said "we are now auditioning for new parts and characters. The roles and scripts are unwritten for us in the next act of life."

"So graduates, are we ready for act three?" she asked. "Yes."

After Wissick's speech, class advisors Diane Graf and Janet McCarty offered some advice to the class, borrowed from the book "Who Will Cry When You Die? Life Lessons from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin S. Sharma.

The advisors shared wisdom from the book most applicable to the graduates, which included suggestions like "see your troubles as blessings," "discover your calling," and "don't be so hard on yourself."

English teacher Keith Blankley, father of graduate Albert Anderson Blankley, followed with a speech contrasting fate with destiny. The subject matter came about after a debate in his tenth grade English class between graduates Vanessa Saba and Josh Mabie.

Each side passionately defended their views, Blankley said, with Saba arguing fate was real and Mabie disagreeing, saying people made their own destinies. Blankley went on to categorize each academic subject as having elements of both fate and destiny and said that after a year and a half, he had finally answered that question for the class.

Following Blankley's speech, superintendent Nicholas Savin, principal Charles Strange and board of education president Ellen Johnson presented the awards, scholarships and diplomas to the graduates. Diplomas were given to 48 students at the ceremony.

Valedictorian Vanessa Saba ended the commencement ceremony with her valedictory.

"We would not be here today without all of you, our families and friends, our teachers and community members," Saba said. "Our achievements are your success."

She said that the shared journey was coming to an end and offered her advice to graduates who were facing an uncertain world full of challenges and problems they did not create.

"We are about to embark on a journey in an indeterminate world," Saba said. "A world that is now, more than ever, torn apart by political and religious strife. We will have to fight for change in order to become it. We must open our hearts and minds to the vast human diversity that makes up our new global village."

Saba concluded by telling her classmates to hold fast to their dreams and not allow the world to make them cynical.

"Our dreams will guide us if we have the courage to follow them," she said.