When students first come to Mountain View, they often tell Principal Dave Jagels that they “hope” to graduate. But hoping, alone, won’t make it happen. Hope, he told his school’s almost-graduates, is a function of struggle.

And in the case of Mountain View students, he said, it’s a struggle like “having a child, trying to complete high school and ending an abusive relationship; being homeless and utilizing county/community resources to finish high school, learning English to be able to pass the classes you need to earn your diploma. It’s also working a 40-hour week [while] going to school full time, or enduring a trauma early in adolescence that changes one’s path in life.”

Jagels said hope happens when people are able to set realistic goals and figure out how to achieve them, even if alternative routes are necessary. It takes persistence, the ability to tolerate disappointment and try again, and a belief in one’s strength to reach the finish line.

Quoting author Shane Lopez’s book, “Making Hope Happen,” Jagels said when people feel overwhelmed, they need to remember who makes them feel like they matter and what really matters to them. Doing so reminds them what they have to offer the world and helps them reconnect with their sense of identity and purpose – which can spur them to action.

Thinking of these things, Jagels told the students, makes him realize that “the magic of Mountain View might be some of the difference in where you are today. In those three little words of ‘family, love and respect,’ Mountain View has helped you realize your own potential.”

He said this school helps students see what they may not be able to see, themselves. “When I think of Mountain View, I think of hope,” said Jagels.

Quoting from “Lessons Learned in Life,” he said, “People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime.”

“When someone is in your life for a reason, it’s usually to meet a need you have,” he said. “They’ve come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. Then, when our need has been met, they’re gone and it’s time to move on.

“When people come into our life for a season, they bring you peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you’ve never done. They usually give you joy or encouragement and belief in yourself. It’s usually short and sweet.

“Lifetime relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons you must build upon to have a solid emotional and academic foundation. Accept the lessons, love the people and put what you’ve learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.”

Jagels said some of Mountain View’s seniors have only been at the school for a short time, a reason; some for a semester, a season; and some for much longer. “It is my hope that the impact Mountain View has had on your lives will last a lifetime,” he said. “Your impact on us, the staff, certainly will.”

“Seniors, go be the hope and lead a life of inspiration,” he continued. “Take some of the values of ‘family, love and respect’ and apply them to your life.

Have hope and be the person you want to be. Thank you so much for being part of Mountain View; we are so very proud of you.”