BUCHANAN — Friday evening, the bleachers of the Buchanan High School field were filled with proud parents and families as they eagerly waited to watch their loved ones earn diplomas. As the familiar sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance” played from the band sections, the Buchanan High School class of 2018 walked onto the field, their maroon gowns swishing with them as they took their seats.

Buchanan High School hosted its 2018 graduation ceremony Friday. All together, the high school awarded 102 graduating seniors diplomas.

“I’m very proud of the class of 2018,” said High School Principal Stacey DeMaio in her welcoming speech. “It’s been a pleasure to watch the class of 2018 grow and develop into some amazing young men and women. Over the last five years, we have had the privilege to get to know these students and looking out at them today, I see all that they have accomplished.”

Three graduating seniors — Randall Draper, Ryan Dickinson and Kevin Frost — were chosen to deliver speeches at Friday’s ceremony. The speeches all followed in a similar vein, by both saying goodbye to the past and looking toward the future.

Draper was the first to speak at the ceremony. During his speech, Draper recalled fond memories from his time at Buchanan High School and wished his classmates well as they ventured forward into the future.

“Today, we say goodbye. Not to each other. Not to our teachers. Not this school, but to the memories this community has given to us,” he said. “As we continue to get older, we will look back on these memories and remember the times we shared. … One thing will never change. Buchanan will always be our home.”

Dickinson was the second to take the podium. Her speech, filled with jokes and laughs, also looked back onto to high school memories, as she thanked her teachers and classmates for giving her a good high school experience.

“These are memories I will think about one year from now, five years from now, and because of the type of person I am, 50 years from now, when I am retired,” she said. “High school has a bad reputation of being a terrible place full of terrible people, but Buchanan High School is not that place. … Every person here has taught me something.”

Frost was the last student to make a speech. His focused on the lessons he learned while attending Buchanan High School and thanking the staff of the high school.

“If there are any lessons to take from this speech it is get out of your comfort zone. Get dirty. Don’t let your fears define who you are,” he said. “The second and last thing I wish to leave with you is a thank-you. … Without the support you provided not only to me, but to everyone else, we wouldn’t be here now. You all saw the potential we had.”

When the speeches were complete and every student had received a diploma, the Class of 2018 were no longer high school students, but graduates.

“Congratulations to the class of 2018,” Principal DeMaio said.