“Life is a hot dog.”

Audry Mahony, salutatorian of the Johnston High School class of 2021, found secret answers to future questions hidden under a thin cylinder of meat, tucked into a split-top bun.

While working a fast food drive-thru window, the graduating senior started asking her customers a simple, but tasty question.

“Is a hot dog a sandwich?”

“Now I hope a lot of you are thinking, ‘Absolutely not!’” Mahony told the crowd gathered for commencement. “However, I get the feeling that most of you are probably thinking, ‘What does this have to do with graduation?’ Which is also a fair answer, I guess.”

Repeatedly during her shifts leading up to Friday’s ceremony, Mahony asked this question of faceless customers, as they shouted orders into a box.

“A few weeks ago, while working at the drive through speaker, I decided to start asking this philosophical hot dog quandary,” she said. “After a few seconds of silence, every one of them gave one of three responses.”

Mahony said the first and most popular answer was “no, a hot dog is not a sandwich.”

Only five times, her customers answered, “yes, a hot dog is a sandwich.”

“One woman looked up the definition of a hot dog on her phone, which said that a hot dog is in fact classified as a type of sandwich,” Mahony recalled.

There were some strange answers.

“One customer said that so is a taco, and in some circumstances, spaghetti and meatballs,” Mahony recalled. “I didn’t really follow up on that one.”

The third answer Mahony received was a brief “no thank you.”

“Which I presume came from people who thought that we were trying to offer them a hot dog,” Mahony said. “Which was a little weird considering I work at Starbucks.”

Mahony’s question was the core of a social experiment.

“The hot dog question really breaks that cycle,” she said. “It reminds the customer that fast food workers are not just an appendage of a corporate monolith. It reminded me that those coming through our drive-thru were not just customers with sometimes slightly concerning drink orders, but also individuals with opinions and thoughts to share.”

Mahony applied the hot dog hypothesis to her 187 fellow graduating seniors.

“Ask every student graduating today what their high school experience was like, and you’ll get 200 different answers,” she said. “Life is a hot dog. There is no objectively correct way to classify your experiences. You can cite a gut feeling to justify your emotions, and nobody can tell you that you’re wrong. Because the big secret is, no matter what anyone tells you, nobody really has life figured out.”

From frankfurters to the fearful future, Mahony wanted the crowd to learn from her experiment.

“Just never forget, the world is your hot dog,” she told the crowd. “Whether or not it’s a sandwich is up to you. Face your fears. Talk to and learn from everyone you meet. Challenge the status quo and you can’t go wrong.”

To laughter, she added: “Unless you think spaghetti and meatballs is a sandwich. In which case, please seek help.”

Johnston High School Principal Dr. Donna Pennacchia announced each speaker during the ceremony held Friday night, June 18, at the Mayor Joseph M. Polisena Athletic Complex.

“It has been a very difficult time for me to find the right words to express how proud I am to be the principal for each and every one of you,” Pennacchia said. “Under normal circumstances, I would stand before you delivering a more formal speech. But not tonight. This is a celebration.”

Nicholas Cronan, president of the senior class, addressed the circumstances under which this year’s ceremony was held.

“In these unprecedented times, in these challenging times, in the middle of a pandemic – these are the words I think we can all collectively agree we never wish to hear in our lifetimes again,” Cronan said. “Often used as a way of introducing a statement or reminder of things we have been unable to do this year, it is of no desire of mine to repeat any message to you like this.

“On a night as long awaited, anticipated and special as this, it is perhaps most appropriate for us to abandon any regrets of the things we have been unable to do, and remember precisely all the good things that brought us together for this moment.”

Cronan served as president of the Class of 2021 for the past four years. Last year’s class graduated under much stricter pandemic guidelines.

“Being the first outdoor graduation ceremony held by the high school in some years, I am extraordinarily grateful to stand here before all of you, here tonight, in person, one final time as your senior class president, looking out at the many bright smiling faces, that have made our class so respected and loved by many,” Cronan said. “Well, I can now officially say that after a 12-year ride, we finally reached the end of one of the first big adventures of our lives.”

Cronan recalled the early days his class shared, from playing with Legos as young children, to their first days at the high school.

“I’m not really sure how it’s possible, but one moment we were witnessing the triumph in the tug of war over the seniors at freshmen year’s battle of the classes,” he said. “And one moment, we blinked an eye and now we’ve somehow grown to become those very seniors that looked so high and mighty to us. Through thick and thin, we’ve all become a true family.”

The members of the graduating class were shaped by the world around them.

“I truly believe that given many of the challenges we faced, our class has evidently become defined by its unmatched resilience and unceasing desire to succeed,” Cronan said. “Just because we are graduating does not mean the magic we created together has disappeared. Do not give up hope for the future, just because this recent year may not have been as perfect as we all hoped. After all, who wants perfection when you can have magic? Who wants an expected and rigid way of life, when you can have an adventure?”

Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena, for whom the football stadium where the crowd gathered was named, reminded the audience he was born and raised in this same small town.

 “Some 49 years ago, I was like all of you, the graduates here tonight, a bit nervous, uncertain of what the future would bring,” he recalled. “But like all of you, I was prepared because of the solid public education from the Johnston Public Schools system.”

Polisena was a member of the class of 1972.

“Each of you will face new and exciting challenges, as you navigate throughout your future,” he told the graduates. “In some instances, it won’t be easy, but you will succeed. Determination, drive and thirst for knowledge will make you succeed.”

He urged the graduates to give back to Johnston following commencement.

“This class of 2021 will have the ability to solve problems, navigate through life’s most difficult challenges, overcome adversity and make our community, our world, a better place to live work, and play,” Polisena said. “No matter what you decide to do in your future, please remember, this is your town. This is your community. It belongs to all of you. Always look for ways to give back to your community. And remember, when choosing your career, always make sure you love what you do, and always do what you love.”

Johnston Schools Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo Jr. stepped to the podium next and addressed the crowd.

“On behalf of the Johnston School Department, I bring you good wishes on your special day,” DiLullo said. “This is a major milestone in your life, and one you’ll always remember. I’m proud of this class’ accomplishments in spite of the many challenges you faced, particularly in the last two years.”

DiLullo congratulated the graduating class.

“You’ve put in extraordinary effort, worked hard, and strived to do your best,” he said. “You’ve met the high standards that faculty and staff have set for you, and that is something to be proud of. Tonight is both your reward for your diligence, and also the gateway to a successful future.”

The next speaker, Louis DiMaio, served as advisor to the class of 2021 for the past four years.

“I’d like to welcome you to the first class reunion,” he joked to begin his address. “I know we’re a little early for it. It does seem like that, if you really think of it.”

He laughingly scolded Cronan for stealing his ideas, but continued anyway.

“I’d like to thank you for your patience, and your understanding, during these past months, and during these past few weeks, as the final plans for this celebration evolved, and clearly shifted, as did much of our social interactions in the world at large, as we emerged from the shadows of the pandemic,” DiMaio said. “I hope you give yourselves credit, graduates, for truly the absolute positive stubbornness, with which you refused to be overcome by the challenges of this year. [There] is one thing that you did do that you need to remember … no one has done what you had to do this year.”

Kayla Aquilante earned the title of valedictorian of the Johnston High School class of 2021.

Her first-place class rank came at a high cost, but taught her valuable life lessons.

“I found out that I was in the running for this title in the winter of my sophomore year,” Aquilante recalled. “It was then that I decided I wanted it. So, I worked hard for it. I sacrificed and stressed for it; ultimately earning myself this distinction.”

Aquilante found out she earned the honor at the school’s senior awards ceremony.

“I felt elated when I heard my name announced with this title,” she said. “Such euphoria lasted for about 15 seconds; 15 seconds of my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping; 15 seconds of, ‘Yeah, I did that.’”

After the initial thrill, a realization settled in.

“But there must come a 16th second,” she told the crowd. “And on that 16th second, my smile relaxed and my face returned to its resting state. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, ‘That’s it? That was the culmination of four years of hard work? Why am I not feeling anything else?’ To be honest, I’m not too sure what I was expecting.”

Aquilante said she couldn’t help feeling a crush of disappointment.

“Perhaps I was hoping all of my problems would fade away,” she said. “Unfortunately, however, that did not happen. I felt nothing. Not even in my heart. My lack of emotion shocked me, to say the least. This presented a huge problem for me and I needed to figure out why.”

Aquilante said she spent a great deal of time exploring the conflicting emotions triggered by the role of valedictorian.

“After much deliberation and thought, I have come to the conclusion that working hard is good, no doubt about it,” she said. “But it should not be done … at the expense of your happiness and the quality of your relationships with others.”

At times, she said, the pressures of earning the number one spot were far greater than the ultimate reward.

“As I reflect upon my high school experience, I realize that the tremendous stress that I placed on myself to achieve this goal, and deliver this five minute speech to all of you, was paid for with the lack of nurturing my mental health, building memories with my fellow classmates, and attending to relationships in my life,” Aquilante told the crowd. “While I can easily discuss my numerous honors and awards, I would rather bring light to the reality of how I earned them. I certainly spent countless hours devoting myself to my studies.”

She recalled many dinners eaten alone in her room while studying. She remembered the many invitations she declined, because of pending exams.

She had been “socially isolating” herself, “in order to maintain a perfect academic record,” she told the crowd.

“I feel that a lesson learned, should be a lesson shared,” Aquilante told the stadium full of family and fellow graduates. “I am glad that I learned this at such a young age. And I cannot imagine if I only understood it at the end of my life.”

She begged the crowd to learn from her mistakes. 

“Here’s the lesson,” Aquilante said. “Have no regrets in the 16th second. Nothing is more important than your emotional well-being and healthy relationships. Nothing.”