Bishop Diego High School graduates file into the Santa Barbara County Courthouse’s Sunken Garden on Saturday for commencement. 
Bishop Diego High School sent off 64 graduating seniors Saturday at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse’s Sunken Garden. 
Under overcast skies, family and friends gathered at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Saturday mornign for Bishop Diego High School’s commencement ceremony. 
Adrianna Kowblansky, headed for the University of Notre Dame in the fall, was named Bishop Diego High’s valedictorian. 
University of Pennsylvania-bound Emily Condon was honored as salutatorian during Saturday’s commencement for Bishop Diego High School. 
Graduating senior Brolin Parris sings the national anthem at Saturday’s commencement ceremony. 
Bishop Diego High School commencement speaker Ronald Cortez encouraged graduates to “own your own mind, be resilient and find your passion.”
It was Bishop Garcia Diego High School’s turn Saturday to send off its class of 2017.
The Catholic school at 4000 La Colina Road in Santa Barbara celebrated the 64 new Cardinal alumni in a commencement ceremony under cloudy skies at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse’s Sunken Garden.
“People say it all comes down to this,” said Emily Condon, the class’ University of Pennsylvania-bound salutatorian. “But by that logic, this is the peak of our lives. I don’t know about you, but I certainly suspect this is not the highlight of our lives, our proudest achievement.
“This graduation is one of many achievements that will allow us to succeed further, to continue to strive for greatness,” she told her class. “This is the first important step in discovering our individual and collective potential.”
Adrianna Kowblansky, who’s headed to the University of Notre Dame, was named valedictorian.
Saturday morning’s commencement speaker, Ronald Cortez, vice chancellor of administrative and business services at UC Irvine, rooted his advice to the graduates in a quotation from President John F. Kennedy: “‘The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along the lines of excellence.’”
“As Bishop Diego High School graduates, you have a phenomenal educational background and spiritual foundation, so using the full strength of your powers will become refined throughout the years,” said Cortez, a Bishop board trustee.
“But the question remains as to how one determines the ‘lines of excellence’ in pursuing one’s own happiness.”
The answer, he explained, is to “own your own mind, be resilient and find your passion.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.