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Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald
Central Heights High School graduate Billy Wicks talks to family and friends Saturday afternoon following the school’s commencement ceremony.
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CENTRAL HEIGHTS: Senior: The world is always changing
By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Managing Editor
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The world can change in 13 years.
It has changed quite dramatically since the 2008 graduating class of Central Heights followed little pink footsteps to their first kindergarten classroom, valedictorian Vincent Ouellette told his classmates Saturday.
In 1985, a gallon of gas cost $1.20, the speed limit was 55 mph and desktop computers were big, bulky machines, Ouellette said.
Now, a laptop can fit into a manila packing envelope and the cost of a gallon of gas has tripled.
And although increasing gas prices may not seem like a change for the better, Ouellette pointed out some bright spots. For example, cars now are built with improved fuel mileage, with many cars now getting 30 miles per gallon or better.
“Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “If a gallon of gas stayed at $1.20, there would have been no reason to improve.
“I guarantee if prices had not changed, we would not have alternative fuel vehicles.”
Other changes in the past 13 years — like cell phones, DVD players, MP3s, Mapquest and Global Positioning Systems — changed the way people communicate, seek entertainment or travel.
“Can you imagine 2021?” Ouellette asked.
“What will a gallon of gas cost or will we even use gas?
“Will we have cell phones or simply a microphone in our ear and we can call who we want when we want?”
Whatever the future may bring, Ouellette encouraged his classmates to lead the way.
“I challenge you to be a positive influence on your community,” he said.
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