Whittier Union High School District’s Class of 2024 basked in the limelight of their accomplishments this week as their commencements took place over three days.

The class, comprised of more than 2,700 students from the district’s five high schools, two alternative high schools and an adult school, smiled, cried, hugged, selfied, fist-pumped, posed and reflected.It was an end and also a beginning for students from Santa Fe, Sierra Vista and Frontier high schools, along with Whittier Union Adult School, who got the spotlight first, on Monday. They were followed by California and Whittier high school commencements Tuesday and La Serna and Pioneer on Wednesday.

“As we gather here today, we celebrate not just the end of our high school years, but also the beginning of our life — full of endless possibilities and new challenges,” Pioneer summa cum laude graduate Maya Vasquez said. “The future is open and armed with our resilience and ambition. Here’s to the Class of 2024, a crowd ready to conquer the world with their ideas, dreams, and tenacity. Congratulations!”

Along with all the graduates, the district celebrated outstanding students from each of the district’s comprehensive high schools with its 2024 Trustee Award, given for exceptional work and effort throughout their high school years.

They were:

• Santa Fe’s Zulema Gamboa, who will be attending Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the fall, studying biology with a minor in health professions.

• Whittier’s Mason Vigil will attend UC San Diego in the fall and major in English with hopes to become a writer.

• California’s Toluwalope Bakare, Audrey Dayton, and Isabella Nunez.

Bakare plans to attend Washington and Lee University in the fall and major in neuroscience.

Dayton will attend Michigan State University and study journalism.

Nunez is attending UCLA in the fall and will be focusing her studies on microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics.

• Pioneer’s Isabel and Galilea Gonzalez.

Galilea will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall and majoring in aerospace engineering.

Isabel will study political science at UCLA.

• La Serna’s Joselyne Mercado will attend UC Berkeley and major in chemical biology to pursue a veterinary career.

What was clear was that the entire Class of 2024 was eager to move on to new horizons.

“As we celebrate all of our accomplishments, it is important to remain eager for what the future has in store for us,” La Serna graduate Ariana Atilano said. “I encourage each of you to never stop learning, because knowledge is power, and our world is constantly evolving. Never settle for less, continue to push the limits, and create a legacy for yourself. Congratulations graduates!”