Sebastian Wurzrainer is planning to attend Dartmouth College in the fall to begin studying film.

But before making further preparations to take that next big step in life, he had one more obligation to fulfill at Coupeville High School last Friday night. He spoke to his classmates during his valedictorian address at Coupeville’s Class of 2016 commencement.

“Next year some of you will be studying in college,” said Wurzrainer, one of 77 graduates in this year’s Coupeville class. “Some of you may take a gap year. Some may go to technical college and some will enter the workforce. Frankly, what you choose to do doesn’t matter. Whatever it is you decide to do, each and every one of you can make the most of it and do something meaningful. Meaningful doesn’t have to mean getting a Ph.D. or having a Wikipedia page all about you. Meaningful is what you make of it.

“Each one of us has the potential for greatness and ultimately it seems to me that that is what high school is all about — realizing that potential.”

Coupeville’s gym was muggy and jam packed for the early evening ceremony, which featured a speech from senior class president McKenzie Rice, a salutatorian address from Loren Nelson and heartfelt messages from faculty speaker Barbara Ballard, who is retiring after 23 years of teaching English in Coupeville.

Allison Dickson also performed on the piano.

“I have personally witnessed almost every single one of you pick yourself up, pull yourself together and do what you needed to do in order to be successful,” Ballard told the class. “I want all of you seniors to feel confident knowing that you have the skill to do that. Not everybody does.”