WELLS — Wells High School 2004 graduate Ryan Peters, a rapper better known by his stage name, Spose, advised the 102 members of the Class of 2018 that it might take some time to achieve their goals, but don’t give up.

Spose was the guest speaker at Sunday’s graduation at Warrior Memorial Field and addressed the students with humor and insight.

“Some of you are going to nail this adult thing (on) the first try,” he said. “You’re going to go to college, you’re going to graduate in four years, you’re going to find or create a career doing what you love. You’re going to marry some Instagram model and you’re going to live happily ever after.”

Spose offered advice to the other students, the 95 percent he said who would experience everything going wrong in their 20s.

“The cool part about the rest of your life is that there’s nobody to supervise you or tell you what to do anymore,” Spose said. “The bad part about the rest of your life is that there’s nobody to supervise you or tell you what to do anymore.”

Spose told students not to pressure themselves to achieve all their dreams by the time they’re 25-years-old and don’t give up on their dreams too young, as they have many years ahead of them.

“If you play your cards right, you’re going to be here until you’re one of the old people who congregate at Wells McDonalds every morning at 6 a.m. with all their buddies, who also survived,” he said.

“I want you to think of life not as a journey toward eventual happiness, but rather as a constant opportunity to feel happy,” he said.

People often “put happiness down the line,” Spose said, and instead of feeling happy now think they will be happy later.

He said he went from having a negative bank account to having more than $200,000 in his bank account, which was what he had always wanted. When he reached this financial goal, he spent a year on the verge of an anxiety attack because of the pressure. He said he was happier when he first heard his song on the radio for the first time, and at that moment, his bank account was negative.

Salutatorian Anya Chase said high school was much different from what she had seen on television programs and movies, and there was no stereotypical high school student.

“We are more than just one-word labels. Each of us have special talents that make us unique and the supportive community of Wells High has allowed us to explore our diverse interests, discover our passions and to learn more about ourselves along the way,” she said.

Chase said the day that once seemed so far away was upon them, and they were now grown-ups.

“The training wheels are off, the safety net is down. No more re-takes, no more do-overs. We are thrown into reality and now we must decide how to respond,” she said.

Valedictorian Estelle Reardon told fellow graduates that in the world they were entering, having money wasn’t just about getting material objects, but having the means to purchase clean food and water and living in an area with clean air and being able to afford to keep yourself and the people you care about healthy.

In the next few years, she said to her peers, they would all be deciding what to study, and when making the decision they needed to consider the realities of the changing world.

“How we fare in the future is dependent more than ever on our present,” she said. “I have faith that if we all choose a wise path to follow, and follow it meticulously, we will be able to make this planet a place where future generations will continue to prosper.”

Principal Eileen Sheehy said that 100 percent of the class was graduating, and she congratulated the graduating seniors on their academic and athletic accolades as well as for their community service work that included raising money for research of a rare neurological disease known as Sanfilippo Syndrome, raising money for cancer treatment and raising money for veterans’ programs.

“As high school students you have never thought you were too small to make a difference in the lives of others. This year alone you have led in raising over $68,000 for local charities and dedicated over 8,000 hours to community service,” she said.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.