Time is a relative entity and people need to make the most of
the time they have.

That was the message given by Dr. Dan Reichart, the guest
speaker at Bradford Area High School’s graduation Thursday
night.

“As an astrophysicist, I spend a great deal of time thinking
about time,” Reichart said. “The time past is incredibly
short.”

“In human time, the faster pace life gets, the faster it seems
to flow,” he said.

Reichart, a 1991 graduate of Bradford High, talked about his
childhood “ending in this room. I was chomping at the bit to go out
and find my own way in this world. Now, I am nearly twice as old
and I am still chomping at the bit for more.”

Reichart said the class needs to live life to its fullest.

“Don’t miss out,” he said, adding they should not be afraid to
fail or to love.

“Everyone has to make their own path. Take risks, but don’t be
afraid of failure. Don’t be afraid to get your heart broken … If
you see a fork in the road, take it.”

He said most of the graduates will live into the 2070s; he was
born in the 1970s.

“The world will change in greater amounts than you realize,” he
said. “I wonder what your generation will do with this time … what
will our generation do with this time in this world.”

Reichart said the grandparents of today endured an attack on
Pearl Harbor. Men went to war; women went to work.

“They literally saved the world. That’s a hard act to
follow.”

The next generation lived through the Cold War.

“That’s a very different kind of war,” he said, adding that in
the Bay of Pigs, “they went to bed wondering if there would be a
world to wake up to.”

They also put “12 people on the surface of the moon and brought
them back alive.”

The graduates’ generation has a opportunity to “affect everyone
in the world.”

One way is the end of cheap oil and the development of new
technology. The second is global warming.

“Energy and the environment,” he said. “Those are the challenges
of our generation. Our response to them will define us as a
generation.”

He told the graduates to stay informed, vote and be tolerant and
compassionate of others.

“We have to heal a nation before we can vote to save it,” he
said.

The man who discovered the oldest explosion in the universe said
he was thrilled with a chance to come back to Bradford and hoped
his words would be effective.

“When Mr. Coffman asked me to speak here this evening, I jumped
at the opportunity,” Reichart said. Even after living in various
places, “Bradford was the only place I considered home.”

While preparing for his speech, Reichart acknowledged that he
didn’t remember what the guest speaker said at his high school
graduation or even his college graduation. At one graduation,
former President Bill Clinton, someone who is able to connect with
an audience, spoke.

“The odds are slim you will remember what I say,” he said. “I
will make it brief and hope to make an impression.”

When mathematics teacher Diane Meier introduced Reichart, she
said he was the “Matthew Russell of 1991” – something the graduates
could relate to.

While Reichart talked about the class’s future, Russell, the
valedictorian, reminisced about the past.

“Well look at us all,” Russell started. ” We made it … we have
had one heck of a ride. I hope you enjoyed it.”

Russell said the friendships they have now, and the ones they
will have in the future, are important.

“We have become not only more knowledgeable but better people,”
he said, adding that he would have liked to have known more of his
classmates.

“I don’t know half of you as much as I would like … (others) as
much as you deserve.”

For the rest of their lives, Russell suggested his fellow
graduates “focus on friendships … keep friendships .. for the rest
of your lives.”

Tyeler Seagren, the class salutatorian, likened their
accomplishments – past and future – to a skyscraper, something that
is built from a strong foundation up.

Starting with learning the plays of William Shakespeare,
completing homecoming floats and putting on a successful prom, “we
have reached the top of the skyscraper.”

“Over the past four years, our class has worked to achieve
success,” she said. “Each stage of life is unknown … challenging.
It’s the skyscraper of life. Remember, the sky’s the limit.”

Elizabeth Cavagnaro gave the farewell address and remembered
studying – and not studying – with friends.

“The most important thing didn’t come from the (books), it came
from friends,” she said. “We have the potential to do great
things.”

Also during the ceremony, three veterans, who quit school to go
into the armed services, received their high school diplomas. Two
were present – Edward Burns and Anthony Falconi. Falconi’s
granddaughter, Lena Siffrinn, also graduated Thursday night.