The lifetime impacts of daily high school classes on Sandy Hook and the importance of lifetime lessons learned from the NJROTC program required of every student at MAST were the topics of the Reflections of Gregory Elkanovich when he gave an address at the June 20 graduation ceremonies for MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology.
Elkanovich, one of the 66 students who received their diplomas from principal Earl Moore at ceremonies on Pershing Field on Fort Hancock, made the trip from Millstone every day to attend MAST. In September, he will be attending Rutgers New Brunswick majoring in Exercise Science on the Pre-Physical Therapy track.
Selected to give a summary of the Class of 2025’s reflections on their life at MAST, Elkanovich made it clear at the onset that describing life as a MAST cadet isn’t easy.
“That’s because,” he told the crowd, “if you try to explain MAST to someone who hasn’t lived it, it sounds made up.”
Nevertheless, he tried: “Our high school is on a retired naval base, inside a national park, surrounded by dunes, deer, and leftover military structures.”
Not only that, he explained, but also, “We don’t have one big red brick building; we have a handful of little ones, scattered across a windy peninsula. And every day, no matter the weather, we hiked from one to another with frozen fingers and runny noses, asking ourselves, “Why does marine bio feel like a survival exercise?” We’re probably the only high school in the country where you can finish a calculus test, walk past an 18th-century lighthouse, and then head to your uniform inspection, all before lunch. Rain or shine, snow or sleet, we traversed between these buildings, braving the elements, and in doing so, building resilience.”
Not only is the setting different from anything, Elkanovich reminded his listeners but also “We wear uniforms. Military uniforms! People thank us for our service, yet we aren’t even old enough to be members of the military. We march. We memorize the chain of command. We have to fill out a form every week for PE. Our schedules flip every two weeks.”
But there are plenty of great things about both NJROTC and the setting, he pointed out. “We have a research vessel! We skip class and go on walks to watch the seals. We are team captains, club presidents, tutors, bussers, fishers, hostesses, lifeguards, beach sweepers.”
Even with all of that, the graduate explained, “we still somehow found time to just be regular high schoolers. To complain about tests we definitely didn’t study for. To pull an all-nighter on a project we got two weeks ago. To play hacky sack and spike ball between buildings. To yell over each other during lunch. To laugh during uniform inspections. To text “Where are you??” when your best friend doesn’t show up to school. To build friendships so real they barely need words now. “
All of which to these graduates means, “The past four years haven’t been ordinary. They’ve been unpredictable, sometimes absurd, and somehow exactly what we needed. We came in as freshmen confused why our school didn’t have a gym, or a real cafeteria, or even a main building. But little by little, we adapted. We figured out how to power-walk across campus in two minutes flat. We learned to layer our clothes when the windchill hit sub-zero. And somewhere between military ceremonies and boat trips, we started to figure ourselves out too. We got comfortable being uncomfortable.”
All of which has created an unforgettable experience, Elkanovich continued to explain to a captive audience. “There’s something about this place, the size, the structure, the shared struggle, that made us close. With only 66 kids in this graduating class, you don’t really get to avoid anyone. We’ve seen every version of each other. The sleep deprived, the stressed out, the over-caffeinated. But we’ve also seen each other show up. For inspections. For projects. For each other. We weren’t just students here. We were cadets. Researchers. Engineers. Teammates. Friends. And most importantly, family. We ran tests and experiments. We stood at attention and spoke at science fairs. We competed nationally and brought back tons of trophies. The kind of learning that happens at MAST isn’t just about academics. It’s about evolving yourself, showing up when it’s hard, pushing through discomfort, and doing things most people our age never get the chance to do. “
“So in retrospect,” he continued, “looking back, what stands out the most isn’t just what we did, it’s who we became while doing it. We became people who lead, who care, who laugh through challenges, and figure stuff out even when the instructions are vague and the weather is worse. The past we share is weird, specific, unique, and impossible to explain to anyone who hasn’t lived it. But that’s what makes it ours. Thank you to the teachers who believed in us, the peers who stood by us, the parents that guided us along the way, and the place that made us stronger. “
And to his classmates, friends, and fellow NJROTC cadets, the proud senior concluded “Class of 2025: We did something different. We did something hard. And we did it together. That’s a past worth being proud of.”
Previous MAST 2025 Story HERE
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