Lewisburg graduate tells classmates to be a goldfish at commencement

Lauren Schwartz did not try to wrap Lewisburg Area High School’s commencement in long speeches or heavy advice. Standing before 149 classmates at Sojka Pavilion at Bucknell University, she gave them a line built to stick: be a goldfish.

The student speaker’s message gave Lewisburg Area High School’s 161st annual commencement a sharper edge than the usual catalog of thanks and hope. In a class moving on to college, work, military service, technical training and other next steps, Schwartz’s advice pointed to a simple habit: let mistakes go fast and keep moving. That kind of message landed in a senior year marked by the usual pressure points of cap-and-gown season, from final class events to the last round of school obligations.

The district had scheduled graduation for May 27 and invited families who could not make it in person to watch the Class of 2026 live on YouTube. Its year-end information also tied graduation to other end-of-year rites, including the Senior Walk and Awards Ceremony, giving the final stretch of the school year a full public calendar rather than a single night of ceremony.

Sojka Pavilion gave the milestone a bigger stage. The 4,000-seat arena opened in January 2003 and is named for Dr. Gary A. Sojka, a former Bucknell president. For Lewisburg Area families, that setting has become part of the ceremony’s identity, turning a high school graduation into a community event that draws students, parents, teachers and neighbors into one place.

Schwartz’s one-line speech fit that setting. In a room full of students about to leave one chapter behind, “be a goldfish” cut through the formality and pointed straight at the uncertainty ahead. For a class headed into a wider world, the message gave Lewisburg’s newest graduates something compact to remember after the lights went down and the diplomas were handed out.