It’s a commencement speech that could end this way only in the 21st century.

“Go out and …,” Lawrence High School graduate Alexandra Hyler said, stopping mid-sentence, pausing to send out a mass text message and then telling fellow graduates they would have to check their cell phones or her Facebook page for the rest.

“Congratulations,” Hyler told her LHS senior classmates.

Hyler joined 336 other graduates who participated in the school’s commencement ceremonies Sunday at Kansas University’s Memorial Stadium.

“All of us have reached the first step of success,” said Tanvi Nimkar, LHS graduate and commencement speaker.

Steve Nilhas, outgoing LHS principal, reminded the graduating class about their contribution to the many successes the school saw over the last three years, which include reaching the standard of excellence in math for two years and a cross country state championship last fall.

He also told them that more accomplishments were in store, as the school’s golf and baseball teams prepare to compete for upcoming state championship titles.

LHS forensics and debate teams are also headed to national tournaments next month.

“I wish each of you a happy and successful future,” Nilhas told the graduates, who sat on bleachers under extreme heat produced by mostly sunny skies.

As students prepare for their futures, Hyler reminded them the importance of being a part of the technology generation, one that doesn’t “remember when cut and paste involved scissors.”

“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” said Hyler, one of the classes eight valedictorians this year, while reciting multiple song lyrics she downloaded from her iPod. “I don’t know about you, but I like college already.”