Friday night was a night of “nevers” for Albert Lea High School seniors.

Never give up. Never be rude. Never settle for less. These were the pieces of advice given to the 2014 graduating class of seniors from speakers during commencement, which was at 7 p.m. in a packed auditorium.

The first never came from school board member Jeshua Erickson. The theme of his speech centered around want ads. He said that finding a job is a significant and difficult task and said most of the seniors in the room will become very acquainted with all different kinds of want ads.

Erickson said in his own life that he’s had many different jobs and experiences and went through times when he thought no one would hire him. He assured graduates, however, if they keep learning and educating themselves, they would find their way.

“Never, ever, ever give up,” he said to the graduates as he closed his speech.

The second and third nevers came by way of seniors Zachary Lind and Julia Otten. The two were chosen by the class to joint speech in a way that they said their grandparents and parents would never approve of.

They took a selfie.

Living up to the moniker of “the selfie generation,” Lind and Otten took a picture of themselves on stage with the crowd of graduates in the background.

After thanking staff, families and their fellow students, Lind and Otten reminisced. They mentioned how during ninth grade the upperclassmen were scary, but when they got to 10th grade, they were automatically so much more mature than the freshman after them.

Eleventh grade brought the onslaught of ACT exams and tougher classes, and according to Lind, senior year taught them the true meaning of finals.

Otten reminded her fellow graduates that it is important to balance talking and listening, to forgive and forget and that there will always be disagreeable people. She also brought the second never.

“There is never, ever, ever, ever a reason to be rude,” she said, concluding her portion of the speech.

Lind told the graduates that it doesn’t matter what they do, as long as they’re happy. He reminded everyone that they are all special and unique and to always be the person they want to be.

He provided the last never, saying his personal mantra was “never settle for less.”

Superintendent Mike Funk gave the last speech of the evening, and even though he didn’t have a never he still gave the graduates some sound advice. He brought up resilience, saying that from what he’s experienced, the most successful people had the ability to bounce back from tough times.

As a final assignment, Funk told the students to develop a support system to get them through tough obstacles and to seek assistance when the need arises.

Otten is attending the University of Minnesota for plant science in the fall. She said that many of her family members have gone there, and that her sister was taking classes there right now.

She said that her family had a lot of farmers and the field of plant science has a lot of work, which were two factors that helped her pick her major.

When asked if she had any more advice for the incoming class of seniors, she matter-of-factly advised to “take preventative measures against senioritis.”

Graduates Blair Bonnerup and Dalton Carlson are looking forward to attending college in the fall.

Bonnerup will attend the Minnesota Commercial Divers Training Center in in Brainerd for underwater welding. Carlson will attend Riverland Community College for residential electrical.

Both Bonnerup and Carlson work in a high school program at Lou-Rich, which helped push them towards their decisions. After the ceremony, both said they were excited to be done with high school and are ready to start the next chapter in their lives.

For the next class of seniors, they advised three things: Hit the books, pass all classes and that happiness is No. 1.

As much as it was a night of nevers, it was also the start of a new chapter, Lind said in his speech. This sentiment was also echoed throughout the ceremony.