Say what you will about high school, it puts the “teen” in “routine.” The numbing sameness of one day to the next provides structure, a trellis for growing brains and bodies to climb.

That ended Friday for Hanover High School’s class of 2025, who marched in their maroon caps and gowns onto the school’s football field to the cheers of hundreds of family and friends.

English teacher Anne Costa, who arrived at the school in August 2021, the same time as the class of 2025, and served as the class’ advisor for four years, was ready to meet the moment as the guest speaker.

“Over the years, I’ve had my share of daunting uncertainty,” Costa said. She left rural Rhode Island to go to New York University. She studied journalism, a career idea that imploded upon graduation. She found work at Warby Parker, then a startup eyewear company, built a career and then left it to become a teacher. Uncertainty dogged her every decision, but it’s just part of life.

“Today, I still feel scared of all the uncertainties before me,” she told the 159 graduates. It can be painful to sit with that discomfort.

But “the potential upside is newness and discovery,” she said. The uncertainty she felt was the price of finding other meaningful work and breakthroughs in her life.

In her graduation address, senior Zabava Halchenko spoke more of certainties. She and the commencement emcee, Theo Cook, drove to Boston to interview people on the street for life advice, gathering answers from firefighters, a bouncer outside a discount cigar store and people at parks and playgrounds. A sample:

“The best things in life don’t just fall into your lap.”

“When life brings someone or something special, cherish it, but don’t lose sight of the person you want to become.”

“Give yourself grace when you mess up.”

The upshot is that “you can’t follow every piece of advice you get,” Halchenko said. And, “in the end, the person best equipped to decide what matters most is the one living it.”

After the graduates received their diplomas and a hug from Principal Julie Stevenson, senior Willa Merrill delivered a farewell address in which she urged her classmates to savor and document what they want to remember. She called such a record “a sort of emotional archive.”

“We have the summer ahead of us to get out and live,” she said. So, “take a moment to document it and truly cherish it.”

She instructed the class to shift their tassels from the right to the left. Then on the count of three, they threw their caps into the cooling late spring air, a symbolic end to their structured lives.

Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.

Hanover High School Class of 2025

Ben Elliot Aaron; Theodore Jakob Abbate; Samuel Lawrence Ames; Jackie Rose Anderson; Eva June Bell; Aidan Patrick Beyer; Aryaman Srivatsa Bhaskar; Elleanor Rose Bradley; Sebastian Andrew Bujarski; Luca Marie Callnan; Rosemary Margaret Candon; Wyn Evans Casey; Aiden Joseph Caulfield; Elizabeth Anne Chambers; Schuyler Lord Clapp; Willow Hannah Clifford; Penelope Jane Collins; Theo Conner Cook; Sophia Frances Costa; Henry Hanifin Cotter; Allison Hailey Daigle; Liam Michael Danaher; Heidi Genevieve Davis; Evelyn Shevon De Jesus; Cole Alessandra DeMatteo; Josie Clara Dennis; Bella Pen-li DiScipio; Gabrielle Ann Downard; Max Sean Dunten; Eleanor Ruby Edson; Zach Scott Edson; Lauren Holly Evans; Ryan Michael Faris; Charlie Fisher; Bailey Lucien Fontaine; Charlie Wyatt Forbush; Winston Frederick Fossett; Andrew Joseph Frechette; David Kingsbury Frechette; Tris Olympia Freeman; Amara Katherine Fuchs; Dahlia Hort Fuld; Tyler Harry Gammell; Hannah Grace Gardner; Joseph Aaron Glass; Rex Neil Gleason; Ava Jolie Goletz; Lucia Beatriz Gomez; Oliver Ramsey Greenway; Tain Kyung-Jin Greger; Jai George Gregory; Gavin Thomas Griffin; Lucy Ethlyn Griffiths; Sydney Elizabeth Guillette; Zabava Halchenko; Reese Heather Hamlin; Charles John Harris; Sam Harrison; Abe Lawrence Healey; Amelia Maya Henry; Harry Maxwell Hirschman; Lucy Mae Hirschman; lan Timothy Holmes; Amelia Mae Holthoff; William Porter Hopkins; Nandeesh Pawan Jain; Tris Jia; Clancy Anne Killebrew; Taehan Kim; Andrew Burns Ladd; Bjorn Noi Larusson; Maura Josephine Lathrop; Julia Grace Lawe; Allyson Xiu-Pei Lee; Diego Li-Kai Lee; Kadia Sayre Lemay; Zosia Caroline Lewellen; Faith Crocker Lindsay; Mingheng Zhang Liu; Coulson David Lloyd-Clare; Tanner Alexander Longmoore; Kenzie Grace Loughman; Campbell Elizabeth Madden; Pablo Miguel Martin-Asensio; JJ Camila Masland; Jackson Paolo Maxfield; Ezra Mines McGinley-Smith; Andrew John McGuire; Willa LiTong Merrill; Krrish Jawahar Mishra; Jasper Reed Moore; Gavin Clark Munson; Keegan Patrick Murphy; Wyethe Rowland Murray; Seoyun Sean Nam; Gavin Alexander Nartowicz; Lionel Jean Latyr Ndong; Jade Amber Nigriny; Skylar Rain Nigriny; Isaac Mosi Novosad; Alex Antonio Orsino; Leo Andrei-Pierre Patyk-Finkel; Braelyn Marquis Pearl; Jennifer Minh Pham; Matthew Thomas Porreca; Simone Blanche Prescott; Isaac Joseph Prince; Margaery Lewis Ray; Claire Theressa Marie Reder; Guinevere Mary Riordan; Charlotte Rose Robinson; Taylor Grace Robles; Rachel Rockmore; Sadie Anne Ross; Andrew Walker Yeehung Rudd; Daniel James Rush; Immy Elizabeth Avtar Sangha; Niko Densmore Sanville; Matthew Louis Saporito; Tirza Anne Savellano; Laura Miriam Schaner; John Emerson Scherer; Finch Azalea Shepherd; Dylan Kinsley Simpkins; Viggo Ulric Slayton; Keaton Fox Smith; Lily Hawthorne Smith; Beckett Quinn Sobel; Nate Hoyt Solberg; Ethan Michael St. Laurence; Elizabeth Evans Staats; Cody Reginald Stearns; Benjamin Wyatt Thaler Wellborn; Gus Goodall Dustin Thompson; Faith Ellen Marie Timmons; Hazel Rane Tompkins; Gideon Anthony Trajman; Ella Grace Tullar; Kit Isabelle Tullar; Matthew Lee Tysinger; Claire Elizabeth Uiterwyk; Alexander Griffin Valentino; Andrew Gordon Valentino; Nicholas Wayne Van Citters; Mya Kassidy Shin Veracka; Carter Thomas Vettori; David Philip Viazmenski; Natalie Ann Wainwright; Finn Ware; Benjamin Hayes Warren; Owen Thomas Welch; Campbell Bailin White; Lucy Bea Wilcox; Emilia Nelle Williams; Hagan Williams; Nora Kathleen Williams; Ryder Merrill Wilson; Noah Edward Winchester; and Linda Zhao.