Once, Andrew Chiavaras saw airplanes as small metal tubes, narrow, claustrophobic and dangerous.

His irrational fear of flying turned the family’s annual visit to Disney World into a house of horrors, featuring a grade-school kid whose meltdowns on vacations had simply become part of the Chiavarases’  landscape.

Then, just three years ago, at the age of 15, Chiavaras made a 180-degree turn, but not simply by conquering his phobia. For reasons that are hard to figure, Chiavaras moved through Pembroke Academy’s graduation Thursday night with a sharp focus on the future.

Now, he loves flying. He’s a month or so away from earning his pilot’s license. He’s made a pair of 100-minute solo flights, to Lewiston, Maine, and Fitchburg, Mass. He plans to make a living in the air, an address that once terrified him. No one saw this coming.

“I did the research to see if I had what it takes to be a pilot,” Chiavaras said, shortly before the ceremony at Delta Dental Stadium. “It took me two or three months to tell my parents and they looked at me like I had three eyes. I was not expecting them to be super open about it.”

Chiavaras told one of many personal journeys that finished Thursday night at the home field of the Fisher Cats professional baseball team.

Grace Simmons addressed the crowd, which filled most of the stadium, as the class president and salutatorian. “Feels like just yesterday. . . we were lost in the halls,” Simmons said. “Somewhere along the line, we all grew up.”

Lillian Corbitt spoke as the valedictorian and told family and friends, “Don’t underestimate yourself,” and “You will always be a Spartan.”

Haley Hagler received the Headmasters’ Award, before music and a collection of still photos flashed on the drive-in theater-sized screen beyond the center field fence, showing students laughing and making goofy faces.

Also, the late English teacher Rachel Berger, who died suddenly two years ago at the age of 52, was honored with high praise and a sense of loss.

Meanwhile, Andrew was named Student of the Year for the compassion, determination and kindness he spread through the campus.

His determination to overcome his fear of flying was most impressive.

Nothing had changed during Andrew’s freshmen year at Pembroke Academy, when his family planned a trip to Indiana to see Notre Dame host local favorite Boston College in a big-time college event with a high-octane buzz.

“Are we driving?” Andrew asked, according to his mother, Heather Chiavaras.

The pre-flight ritual- fear, fear and more fear – followed the same flight path as all the other scenes of distress, most coming from flights to Disney World.

“I was 15 at the Notre Dame game,” Andrew said. “As soon as I found out we were going, I  got stressed out about it. I was pacing back and forth, my legs were shaking and my throat was dry.”

He kept relatively cool. Commenting on his remarkable turnaround once he got home, Andrew said, “We had a layover and I was relaxed there. I was thinking it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be, and a few days later I was thinking that I kind of enjoyed it.”

That’s when Andrew buried himself in research, learning the ropes, trying to present an idea to his parents that showed some maturity and thoughtfulness. That’s when Andrew said they looked at him as though he had three eyes.

Those eyes are locked in like never before. Andrew has gained experience at the airports in Concord, Manchester and Keene. He’s closing in on his pilot’s license, the first step, which will allow him to fly anywhere except into clouds, and testing to earn that privilege is on the horizon as well.

There are four rounds of testing, and Andrew hopes to be a commercial pilot shortly after completing his coursework. He’s 18 and the minimum age to fly commercially is 21.

“At this point, I don’t think anything will drive me away from this,” Andrew said. “Each time I go flying, it’s the same feeling over and over again. Excitement.”

]]>