definitely wasn\u2019t traditional<\/a>, it was just as memorable for many graduates, families and AHS faculty who have arguably grown closer than before due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. <\/p>\n\u201cThroughout high school with the support of teachers, courses and experiences, we were able to start creating our own paths and become individuals within our class. \u2026 But no matter where we ventured along the way, we were always united by being a part of the class of 2020 and we all ended in the same place: here in the Buttermilk parking lot,\u201d said Katarina \u201cKat\u201d Goralka, co-salutatorian at the Aspen High School graduation ceremony May 30. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough we are receiving an atypical ending to our high school careers, these last two-and-a-half months did not take away the friendships, memories, accomplishments and sense of community we have built.\u201d <\/p>\n
Goralka \u2014 a multi-sport athlete and active Model U.N. Club and Health Club member who plans to attend University of Michigan this fall \u2014 is one of 36 seniors from Snowmass Village who graduated from AHS last weekend. <\/p>\n
For Goralka, while the class of 2020 is a pretty close group as a whole, the seniors from Snowmass have somewhat of a different connection and bond through living in the village. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would say Snowmass Village seems like more of a tight-knit community and it provided us with a unique thing that we shared,\u201d Goralka said of the seniors from Snowmass. <\/p>\n
From lacrosse, volleyball and basketball to volunteering at the local hospital through her work with the school health club, Goralka said high school was definitely a lot more mellow than she thought it would be and allowed her to try a lot of new things. <\/p>\n
When the COVID-19 crisis started in March, Goralka said she felt a lot of support from the Snowmass community, with people empathizing with her about not being able to finish out her senior year in-person when she\u2019d run into them around town. Goralka has lived in Snowmass since she was in kindergarten and said it has been a great, family-oriented community to live in. <\/p>\n
\u201cSnowmass Village is an awesome community. It\u2019s been really cool to grow up here,\u201d Goralka said. <\/p>\n
Tharyn Mulberry, a Snowmass resident and principal of Aspen High School, said he\u2019s been able to watch seniors like Goralka make positive impacts on the village community over the past four years and has enjoyed running into them on regular basis outside of school. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really fun interacting with the Snowmass kids all of the time and watching them prepare for all of the great places they plan to go,\u201d Mulberry said. \u201cI really think the Snowmass seniors have set an example for the younger kids here on what they can be and how well they can integrate into the community.\u201d <\/p>\n
Charlie Laube, a Snowmass resident and head of AHS\u2019 college counseling team, expressed similar thoughts to Mulberry. <\/p>\n
Laube said he\u2019s also interacted with Snowmass seniors outside of school, especially at the ski area, and has been impressed with their positivity, perseverance and passion for engaging with nature. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely made some really strong connections with these seniors,\u201d Laube said. \u201cWith 138 individuals you have 138 unique stories, some of which are heart-wrenching. There are some students in this community who have endured more emotional frustrations than any student their age should have to, yet they persevered and worked hard to find that silver lining.\u201d <\/p>\n
Laube and Mulberry expressed how proud and inspired they have been by the class of 2020\u2019s ability to keep morale, support and connection among their peers strong during the COVID-19 crisis. <\/p>\n
Mulberry said the class has been extremely active in attending school events over the years, taking on advanced coursework and trying things that pushes them outside of their comfort zones \u2014 qualities he feels will take them far in the future. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just a great class and one of the kindest, most generous groups,\u201d Mulberry said. \u201cI wish them all the best with whatever they end up going into and can\u2019t wait to see many of them around the village this summer.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hailey Higdon and Julia Higdon, identical twins, are also AHS Class of 2020 graduates who were raised in Snowmass Village. <\/p>\n
Like Mulberry, both Higdon sisters said they feel their class is really supportive of each other and that there\u2019s always someone to talk to and listen if you need them. <\/p>\n
The sisters said that they feel the COVID-19 crisis helped bring their class closer together and was easier to get through since the teens had each other and their mom, who is a nurse. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely helped having each other there day to day \u2026 and what helped me stay positive is the fact that there are so many bigger issues going on,\u201d Hailey said. \u201cPutting things into perspective made me realize we have everything that we need so we need to be grateful.\u201d <\/p>\n
Both Higdons work at the Treehouse, play golf, figure skate, ski for fun, have a lot of the same friends, similar personalities and consider themselves \u201creally close.\u201d <\/p>\n
But this fall, Hailey plans to attend University of Colorado Boulder and Julia is going to Chapman University in California. It will be the first time the girls have really ever lived a part. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely nerve-wracking because we\u2019ve never been away from each other for more than a few weeks, but I think we\u2019re both excited to individualize and make new friends,\u201d Julia said. <\/p>\n
When asked what advice the Higdons have for under classmen as they finish out their high school careers, the sisters said the younger students shouldn\u2019t worry about what other people think, should do what they love no matter what and take advantage of all the opportunities Aspen High School has to offer. <\/p>\n
Goralka echoed many of the Higdons\u2019 sentiments, encouraging younger students to hold onto the little things. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say take it all in because especially like the class of 2020, we kind of had a brutal wake up call. At least I did,\u201d Goralka said. \u201cI didn\u2019t appreciate a lot of the everyday things until we couldn\u2019t do them anymore. So appreciate all of those moments; go to the games, go to the dances, and find the outlets outside of school that you love.\u201d <\/p>\n
mvincent@aspentimes.com <\/p>\n
via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 30 in the Buttermilk Ski Area parking lot, 138 seniors celebrated the end of their Aspen High School educations. And while the ceremony definitely wasn\u2019t traditional, it was just as memorable for many graduates, families and AHS faculty who have arguably grown closer than before due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. \u201cThroughout high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2459128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 03:28:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2459128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2459128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2459128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2459128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}