HANOVER — Diploma in hand and mortarboard flung to the four winds swirling around Merriman-Branch Field on Friday night, Joey Goff sat down at the keyboard to perform his last act as a student at Hanover High School.

Despite a cold and a raspy voice, the newly-minted graduate played for and sang along with classmates Margaret Finley and Deveon Martin on musical group Anthem Lights’ 2018 edition of Graduation Medley, a mash-up of 1980s and 1990s pop hits ranging back and forth through I Will Remember You, See You Again, Time of My Life and Forever Young, to applause from their 171 classmates and from hundreds of friends, family and teachers.

Next stop, Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which Goff will attend on a $60,000, four-year scholarship he won by — wait for it — playing piano.

“I went in March to audition in person, one of 35 semi-finalists picked to try out,” Goff, whose family moved to Hanover seven years ago from upstate New York, said earlier in the day. “I wasn’t sure at the time whether Skidmore was my top pick — I was looking at Bentley for the business program — but when I came out as one of the finalists, it made the choice pretty clear for me.”

The scholarship gives Goff, who gave up two other sports and the violin to focus on his passions of hockey and piano, “the freedom to explore anything you want, without having the pressure to commit to a major in music or anything else,” he said.

Not bad for a kid who once had a pencil case full of pencils thrown at him, as endearingly recalled by student speaker Romaney Granizo-Mackenzie — the thrower of the pencils.

Other commencement speakers urged the class of 2019 to maintain a sense of humor, and to pursue and embrace surprises and serendipity, while also keeping in mind the well-being of fellow Earthlings.

“A good story is one that helps us to be better people, to lead richer, more fulfilling lives, to navigate obstacles and failures, and to be happy,” said veteran English teacher Brent Concilio, for whom students voted as their guest speaker. “So here is my first piece of concrete advice: Think about the stories you tell yourself about who you are as a student, as a son or a daughter, as a friend, a romantic partner, an athlete, an artist, and ask yourself of each story, ‘Does this help me to be brave, kind, compassionate, successful and happy?’

“If not, you might want to reconsider your story.”

David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.

Hanover High Class of 2019

Lea Adams-Blackmore, Matthew Ryan Alibozek, Phoebe A. Altman, Claire Helene Austin-Washburn, Duncan Bailey, Ellee Barker, Charlotte P Bedford, William Raymond Bender, Caleb Alexander Frowein Benjamin, Aidan Kunhardt Biglow, Adam Tyler Blackburn, Clara Beverly Boland, Greta Bolinger, Dillon Christopher Bradley, Emily J Bregou, Spencer D Brown, Caleb D Callaway, Kaylei Madeline Cardona, Neil Anthony Castaldo, Mackenzie Taft Caulfield, Ella M Chapman, Tobias Morgan Choyt, Joshua R. Chu, Lillian D Clarke, Isabella Grace Collins, Liam Joseph Collins, Margot R Davis, Grace Brunner Derksen, Boris Devitskiy, Rose XinYi Donaldson, Christo C Dragnev, Brianna M. Elder, Jett Beckett Elin, Matthew T Fenner, Abigail K Feyrer, Margaret Ann Marie Finley, Alice A Frederick, Wright Calhoun Frost, Samuel Robert Gallimore, Morgan Nong Gardner, Hazel Rose Garrity-Hanchett, Lauren Elizabeth Gemery, Sarah Marie Genzer, Rachel Elizabeth George, Mia Nellie Gilardi-Dahlqvist, Joseph Charles Goff, Natalie Seaton Gold, Julia G Golder, Maeve Moran Goodrich, Romaney Granizo-Mackenzie, Suhan Gui, Daria G Gundermann, Eleanor D Hackett, Emily Lucille Hackett, Caleb Hamblen, Dakota James Hanchett, Erik Michael Hansen, James J Healy, Dina Hertog-Raz, Matthew I Hinck, Benjamin Adam Hoffer, Jeffrey Emmanuel Holt, Benjamin P Hoskin, Zoe Anne Hutchins, Anika N Jain, Ryan M Jones, Natalie Junio-Thompson, Bryn Porter Kable, Keillor Stuart Kaplan-James, Mariah Rosemary Kealey, Sara Kleber, Andrew Quante Kotz, Samuel Krimmel, Geneva Natasha Kwaku, Kennedy A Lange, William S Laycock, Audrey R Lee, Margaret P Lee, Emilee M. Lenning, Gary L. Li, Yajie Lou, Maxwell R. Low, Peter Timothy Lukovits, Frans Joseph Luttmer, Maxwell Phineas Lutz, John Middlebrook Lynch, Maya R. Lynn, Thomas S. Madden, Mason Stewart Mallett, Colby Aaron Marsh, Aidan M. Marshall, Emilie Grace Marshall, Deveon Cortez Martin, Pierre J. Mayo, Nicolas Allie Mayo-Pushee, Rosa Simone McCann, Sheila Maeve McCarthy-Sinhart, Amelia James McNamara, Oliver D Minshall, Neve Susitna Monroe-Anderson, Anna Claire Morse, Elizabeth Bailey Napier, Henry Neuman, Cassandra Mary Nichols, Paige Julia Nolan, Hope Lacy Johnson Norman, Christopher Hagin Onyango, Andrew William Parker, Oliver Sebastian Parrado, Glen J. Passow, Max Aaron Patyk-Finkel, Charles L. Plottner, Vothanak Sophea Prak, Dorothea J. Psomas, Alexander A. Purcell, Elijah Joel Putnam, Robert Arthur Putnam, Ethan Radicioni, Mark Henry Ralston Daniel, Kai T. Renshaw, Quinn T. Renshaw, Maia J. Reynolds, Jessica Ridge, Andrew Turner Rightmire, Simon G. Roach, Christopher S. Robertson, Jack MacPhail Robey, Elizabeth Freeman Rodi, Aiden Christopher Rowley, Kyle C. Rozzi, Margaret Ryan-O’Flaherty, Cade Morgan Salzano, Diana R. Schwarz, Lois R. Schwarz, Samuel J Seelig, Colm Seigne, Cameron R. Shipulski, Iroha Shirai, Leora T Siegel, Eli Justin Silovich, Kegan Dunne Silovich, Hallie Macaulay Smith, Megan Elizabeth Smith, Heather Stafford, Julia Abigail Stahl, Nicholas John Starosta, Sydney Stearns,Aiden K. Stone, Benjamin James Stroud, Emma Y. Supattapone, Liam T. Szczepiorkowski, Courtney Marian Tally, Paul James Tanny, Elaine Marie Taylor, Leila M. Trummel, Ray Wang Tso, Brian Callahan Turkington, Emma Tysinger, Brigit Carolyn van Gemeren, Prosper J. Velazquez, Aimee Renee Vollmann, Shannon H. Walsh, Emma Burke Watson, Laura White, Maisy Wilcox, Haley Ann Willens, Johannes Nathan Williams, Rebecca S. Wilson, Mason G Winter, Tyler W. Wittmann, Eamon L. Worden, Claire Elizabeth Yegian, Griffin Patrick Young,Christiana Marie Zamora.

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