The warm sun beamed on the faces of the 75 hopeful Moravian Academy graduates Saturday during the school's commencement held on the Jacob

Lawn of the Merle-Smith Campus.

Class of 2013 President Joshua Aurand provided the remarks. He thanked the many individuals who made graduation possible, from parents and

family to the teachers and staff of the school.

"We have come a long way," he said. "We are officially done with high school."

Although the graduates successfully completed one stage of their life, Aurand wryly asked the new graduates to reflect back to their freshman year.

"You can see how much we have come into our own," he said. "We have all proven ourselves in one way or the other."

Reading Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," he recommended to the Class of 2013 they appreciate and take advantage of the many experiences college has to offer that will help prepare them for life.

"We better enter those woods," Aurand said. "Just like high school is not college, college is not the real world."

Richard D. Krohn, director of the upper school, spoke of the diverse group of individuals in the Class of 2013, individuals ranging from athletes, artists and poets to budding scientists and individuals committed to making the world a better place.

"This class is a group of dedicated students," Krohn said. "They've challenged themselves. Moravian Academy will miss them."

The ceremony concluded with the playing of the alma mater and the graduates, with diplomas in hand, recessing outward.

The class of 2013 graduates will further their educations at institutions such as the College of William & Mary, Boston University, Fordham University, Harvard College, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania State University, Southern Methodist University, University of Virginia, Wesleyan College and Williams College.

"It has been an honor and congratulations to us all," Aurand told the graduating class.