OXFORD HILLS — “Nothing we can do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.”

This was the quote that was chosen to symbolize the next chapter for the Class of 2013 graduates of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, who proudly marched across the stage to accept their high school diplomas during their commencement ceremony at the Gouin Athletic Complex on Saturday evening.

Family, friends and classmates filled the outdoor grandstands and the athletic field below as faculty bagpipers welcomed the procession of graduates.

Clad in green and white, the 230 seniors, some with personalized caps, marched onto the field at 7 p.m.

Salutatorian Alyssa Andrews, during her address to the graduates, told them that as a freshman, she decided to try something new: cross-country skiing. During this time, she learned an important lesson from her coach.

Her very first time on skis, she fell. “I wasn’t hurt, but I was shocked,” she said. Her coach could tell she was surprised and embarrassed, so he told her it was OK to cry, she said. And she did.

“The way we relate to other people is one of the most important things in life,” Andrews said. She said a person may have a successful career and every material “thing” they could possibly want, “but without strong connections to other people, they may never, truly be successful.”

She added, “Reach out, create and maintain lots of good relationships.”

Valedictorian and class secretary Ariel Garber asked the graduates during her speech what makes them different from the other 2013 graduates around the world.

“Opportunities, moments, chances,” she answered. These words, she said, appeared in all of her college application essays. “These are the things that shape who we become. Opportunities mean nothing if they are ignored, and everything if they are realized. Our opportunities are limitless.”

She urged the students in all that they do, no matter where life takes them, to “strive to be happy.”

Principal Ted Moccia, who gave the opening remarks, told the graduates that when thinking of “words of wisdom” to share, the theme of community resonated with him.

“As Cesar Chavez said, ‘We cannot seek achievement for ourselves, and forget about progress and prosperity for our community,'” Moccia said. “Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

“I challenge you, to always remember where you came from,” he said. “Never lose sight of the fact that you will always have a loving and caring community called Oxford Hills. Once a Viking, always a Viking.”

Class President Shennah Derstine gave the closing remarks before leading the graduates in a candle-lighting ceremony as a gesture of unification.