Bellefontaine High School Class of 2025 graduates dodged a few raindrops on their way to their seats at AcuSport Stadium Friday evening, May 30, but not even a little bit of rain could dampen their high achievements or their enthusiasm for receiving their hard-earned diplomas.
Dr. Timothy Smith, a 2007 BHS graduate and current award-winning principal investigator at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, remembered when he was sitting in those very seats 18 years ago, he said to the class in his remarks as the featured commencement speaker.
He also recalled signing a pact with his friends when he was 17 years old that he would never own a minivan. The now husband and father of three children used that pact to illustrate the first of his four lessons that he wished he’d have known when he was graduating from BHS. That first lesson is: “Not everything will go according to your plan, and that’s OK.”
“Tonight, I drove here in a blue minivan,” he told the BHS graduates with a laugh. “You can’t beat the practicality. My sister found that pact that I signed and she shared it to my Facebook page.”
The 2007 BHS valedictorian also related other plans of his that did not pan out, including his original choice of where he’d attend college. Dr. Smith said he’d always wanted to go to the University of Cincinnati, but scholarships didn’t work out in his favor at that university, so he chose Wright State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
“If I wouldn’t have attended Wright State, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” noting his career field and personal life would be different, as Wright State is also where he met his wife of 10 years, Jen.
The featured speaker also said he was rejected from several graduate programs and even the metal alloy, GRX-810, that now has garnered awards was initially rejected by several academic journals.
Despite those challenges, during 2023, he and his colleagues were awarded an R&D 100 Award for their creation of GRX-810, which is also is nominated for invention of the year at NASA.
“Those moments don’t define you,” he said of letdowns and difficulties. “What you do with them does.”
His second piece of advice for graduates is that “no one goes at it alone.” Dr. Smith said his mother, a longtime BHS teacher, and many other Bellefontaine City Schools teachers nurtured his academic interests.
In his current position at NASA, he finds that it’s important to take the initiative to ask questions and to take the time to learn from others around him.
“Now I work with some of the most brilliant scientists at NASA. Despite their seniority, they are willing to drop what they’re doing to help when I have a question for them.”
In closing his remarks and final two pieces of advice, Dr. Smith urged his fellow BHS graduates to surround themselves with people who encourage them to be the best versions of themselves and to remember where they came from.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that your background limits your success. Many of my peers at NASA also come from small towns in Ohio. Your upbringing is important to who you are.
“I can’t wait to hear about the amazing accomplishments of the Class of 2025.”
Class valedictorian Nolan Core and salutatorian Claire Grandstaff also addressed their classmates. Nolan plans to attend Ohio Wesleyan University to study biochemistry on a pre-med track. He told his classmates that “today is a launch pad.”
Like Dr. Smith, he also encouraged his peers that “none of us are in this alone.
“We are the generation that can stand up and step up. We can chose to care. Do onto others what you would have them to do you.”
Claire plans to attend Miami University to study psychology, neuroscience and Spanish. She recalled her nervousness when she first began her time at BHS, and said while the graduates might face some of the same fears of the unknown today, they should be confident in themselves and in their capabilities.
“I know we’ll continue to grow and mature. Our generation is the future. I know we’ll continue to do great things and we might even change the world.”
Rounding out the top 10 students in the BHS Class of 2025 are: Madison Christman, Mia DeLong, Hunter Kerns, Quinn Slagle, Taylor Banta, Ryan Alexander, Graham Lotts and Kylie Adams.
Nolan Core, along with Naomi Washburn, and Savannah Seeley also were honored for earning an associate’s degree from Clark State University and The Ohio State University at Lima as well, alongside their BHS graduation.
Class members entering the armed forces also were recognized: Kaydin Lenhart, U.S. Air Force; Nevaeh Lafollette, U.S. Army; Trent Marcinko and Brayden Swearengin, U.S. Marines.
