The class of 2018 wasn't one for a casual send-off at Englewood High School.

Instead, students gave poignant and introspective looks at their journey ahead as high school graduates at the May 19 commencement ceremony in the school's gym, the Pirate Field House.

“We are mourning the loss of our childhood,” Samantha Vielbig said in an address on stage. To “the class of 2018: This is not a finish line, but the start to a whole new life. And so we jump, and our adventure begins.”

“Social justice” is a term that defines the graduating class, Principal Ryan West said during opening remarks. He referenced a student walkout in March to protest gun violence in the wake of the February shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Students deserve recognition for graduating while maintaining jobs, trying to eat healthy and get enough sleep, and still facing the challenges of succeeding in school, graduate Kody Gruska said in an address on stage.

“Our grandparents joke about millennials always being on our phones, but that is because you don't see us in school,” Gruska said.

“Hopefully, when you look back, you don't see us as a lazy generation.”