Liberty co-valedictorians join to make single graduation speech

May 30, 2014 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

To hear Logan Hunkus and Noah Persson tell it, their bond of friendship goes back to before they were even born.

“Our parents have been close friends for a long time,” said Noah. “We’ve literally known each other, though, since we were babies.”

The 18-year-olds spent their life growing up together, playing at each other’s houses, and going to school together. So to them, and to Liberty High School Principal Rocco Aducci, it seemed only fitting that they both share the honor of being valedictorians for the Liberty High School Class of 2014.

Hunkus and Persson each finished with a 4.0 grade-point average, putting them together at the top of the 105-member class. Normally, a tie-breaker system, based on points from classes taken, is used to determine who will be valedictorian and who is salutatorian.

But Aducci, knowing their close background, said it seemed like a good time for Liberty to have the first co-valedictorians in school history.

“They grew up together,” said Aducci. “It was just a great fit.”

So when he called them to his office not long ago and asked whether they would mind sharing the honor, they were thrilled to accept.

“We were kind of relieved, actually,” said Noah, with Logan adding that the shared honor “kind of took some pressure off.”

They even shared the microphone, giving their valedictory address together during commencement ceremonies Thursday evening at Stambaugh Auditorium.

“We’ve always been together at the top [of the class],” Persson said, noting that they always believed one would eventually pull ahead of the other.

“We were best friends all along. I think that’s what makes this even more special,” said Hunkus, who also is class secretary.

Despite their close relationship and their neck-and-neck race to the top, each insisted that there was never any competition or rivalry between them.

And their same-time speech — which Noah said was his mother’s idea — focused on, what else, but friendship.

“That’s what it’s all about,” said Logan, smiling.

They said they plan to keep in touch after they go their separate ways. Logan is off to Kent State University, where she’ll major in biology with a pre-med focus.

“I want to be a doctor,” she said.

Meanwhile, Noah is going west to study engineering at the University of Colorado. His main area of study will be renewable energy.

Both weren’t sure whether they’ll return to the area after their college careers are over.

“We’ll see what the future holds,” Noah said.

For Holly Burgdorf, graduation was a welcome relief after months of pain and anxiety from a serious health scare.

The petite cheerleader had her wisdom teeth removed in January, but developed complications shortly afterward, leaving her in severe pain and with a badly swollen jaw.

In March, doctors took samples of her jawbone and muscle tissue from her jaw, fearing that she might have cancer.

“My mom was more worried than I was. You know how moms are,” Holly said, laughing.

Thankfully, it was not cancer but a bone infection at the root of her problems. Still, she had to have a catheter placed in her arm for intravenous antibiotic treatments for some two months, and she missed the last two weeks of school. She considered skipping graduation because of her sickness, but felt good enough to attend.

“It’s awesome to be out,” she said with a wide smile. “I wish I could have finished [the year] in school with my friends instead of at home, but I’m excited for today.”

Holly said her parents, Bruce and Kathy, her sister, Carly, 19, and her friends and school officials, were extremely supportive during her illness.

Holly will study pre-nursing at Youngstown State University and then go on to become a dermatologist.

Not dentistry?

“No,” she said with another laugh. “I’ve had enough of that.”

Taylor McCulley, 18, was all smiles as she waited for graduation to get started.

“I’m sad to see this chapter of my life close, but I’m so ready for the next chapter,” she said, explaining that she will enter the nursing program at Ohio State University.

“I always wanted to be a Buckeye, and I wanted to shoot big,” she said of her choice of OSU. “And I always wanted to be a small fish in a big pond.”

Aducci, a 1967 graduate of Liberty, said times have changed considerably since he walked the halls as a student. The Class of 2014 was notable to him for its diversity and its character.

“We have a wide range of religious beliefs, a wide range of minorities and backgrounds in this class,” he said. “It’s a great melting pot, and they get along so well. They’re so polite to each other and to the staff. Those are the things that I’m really proud of about this class.”