Jacqueline Pearl is in love with her future and can’t wait to meet her.

The senior graduated on Saturday from Merrimack Valley High School, where she decorated her cap with those lyrics in rainbow holographic letters, surrounded by orange and yellow butterflies and white and blue flower petals.

“I’ve always been obsessed with Billie Eilish, so I used the quote from ‘My Future’,” said Pearl, referring to a part of the chorus of the 2020 song. “I just thought, our school is blue, gold, white, and there are really similar colors in the album. And so I was like, ‘You know what? We’re going to make this work.’”

Pearl plans to pursue a career in barbering and esthetics and hopes to open her own men’s salon one day. Her twin sister Chloe also decorated her cap – but as a cake – since she will attend Johnson and Wales University to become a pastry maker.

About 180 students dressed in navy blue caps and gowns sat in white plastic chairs in the center of the football field. Family members and friends occupied the bleachers, the tents and the grass to celebrate their graduating seniors.

“From start to finish, the spirit of dedication helped us build a year that the class of 2026 will certainly have a hard time beating,” senior class president Addyson Kimball said in her speech. “Congratulations, and thank you all for making this year special.”

Kimball gave her classmates a summary of the experiences they had gone through together – from freshman year, when students had to wear masks, to senior sunrise at Hampton Beach and a class-wide sleepover in the teacher parking lot.

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan gave the commencement address, where she focused on the importance of caring, not just for one’s own life but also for the community, country and democracy as a whole.

“All progress in our country has been made by people who cared, even when it was tough, even when caring seemed cringy – because they believed in a better future and were willing to work hard to make it happen,” said Hassan. “The same way you all believed you could reach this field and work hard for four years at Merrimack Valley High.”

In her speech, Hassan quoted poet Robert Frost to urge students to understand that “hope is not found in a way out, but in a way through.”

Abigail Ciarametaro, who gave a student address on looking ahead, also quoted Frost.

“When I read one of his poems, ‘The Road Not Taken,’ I was captivated by the following verse: ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,’” said Ciarametaro, whose favored Frost since seventh grade. “At the end of the day, my hope for you all today is to take your past years at Merrimack Valley High School and use what you learned about yourself to walk down your own path that is paved by your own unique experiences.”

Ciarametaro encouraged her classmates to be proud of themselves, while also not letting comparisons get the best of them.

“It’s important to hone in on your true self and appreciate all the hard work and dedication that brought you to not only here today, but will give you the everlasting push into the time ahead,” said Ciarametaro. “In the final analysis of life, there’s always going to be someone smarter, faster, or stronger, but never let that stop us from shining our light as bright as the sun.”

Yaa Bame can be reached at ybame@cmonitor.com