WEARE — The story of the 2012 graduating class from John Stark Regional High School has come to an end, and Valedictorian Scott Morin said it's time for each graduate to go forward and write his or her own story.

“High school is like a book and we are characters in that book following our own plots,” said Morin. “Now that book is complete, we have become characters in our own sequel.”

Nearly 200 students comprised the 25th graduating class from the high school named for Gen. John Stark, a Revolutionary War hero and the man who gave New Hampshire the familiar motto, “Live free or die.”

“The spirit of Gen. John Stark is poised somewhere within our universe beaming with pride,” said principal Chris Mosca to the crowd gathered beneath a giant white tent on the fields where the Generals compete for glory.

Mosca said the class motto, chosen aptly for 2012 and the rumored Mayan prediction of Earth's demise was: “It's not the end of the world. It's only the beginning.”

Now, with life's great unknowns unfurling before them, Salutatorian Irena Kuzma said her peers need to remain positive and recognize progress when it's being made. After sharing a story of climbing Mount Washington with her family and realizing that with each step, they were getting closer to their goal of reaching the summit, Kuzma said she learned a valuable lesson about life.

“You have to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can't,” she said.

Prof. Gary Bouchard, who teaches at St. Anselm College, reflected on Stark's famous words and said, “Adam Sandler notwithstanding, Stark was by far the most influential and important figure to come out of New Hampshire.”

Stark's complete quote, written when he was 81, was: “Live free or die, for death is not the worst of evils.”

After reciting that line, Bouchard said the only evil worse than death is tyranny.

“All you have to do for the rest of your life is avoid tyranny,” he said. “Seems pretty simple to me.”

To that aim, Bouchard encouraged students to free themselves from the tyranny of willful ignorance.

“Learn, learn and then learn some more,” he said. “Learn enough to know all that you don't know.”

nfoster@newstote.com