Brent and Lora Butler with daughter Zoe at her graduation in May. Photo by Chad Lauritzen. Chad Lauritzen

I have known Zoe Butler since the day she strode into the class of the delightful Ms. Becky Sims at Chamisa Elementary School.

My favorite memory is when the school celebrated the 100th day. A big day that probably included Dr. Seuss. What I would learn the next day was that the kindergarten student thought the 100th day, marked the last day of the school year.

That beautiful little girl bloomed into a stellar leader at middle school, as part of a program called WEB Crew. She went on to become a similar leader in the Los Alamos High School LINK Crew, both programs welcoming incoming students to their new surroundings. Zoe is the type of dependable person who goes on to receive accolades like Homecoming Queen.

This year began on a successful note for Zoe and then the world changed, but success would come again when she was selected as the LAHS graduation speaker.

“I was informed that this year had the largest amount of speeches submitted in a long time, and I was honored to be the speech chosen,” Zoe said. “I was also very nervous, because unlike most student speaker speeches, I felt like this one should be as special as possible considering the weird and unnatural circumstances, as well as how special this class is in general.”  

Zoe was not inspired by just her experience, but the experience of everyone who would graduate. She wanted the speech to be personal for every listener.

“I tried to make it more personal, that the listeners would be prompted to reflect on their own experience and not mine,” Zoe said. “Above all, I wrote this speech for the students, the amazing class of 2020.” 

While she enjoyed important events like homecoming and pep rallies, it was hardship that brought the additional vision. Quarantine illuminated the most important things – all of the people she met and all the memories she made with them.

What Zoe said she enjoyed most about high school was making the connections and learning the lessons that this time in her life had to offer. It has allowed her most of all to be prepared and excited for what is in front of her and all of the graduates, tackling it together. 

“The ability to reflect back on high school for what made it so special to the individual graduate was my ultimate goal,” Butler said. “Nothing good in life comes easily, and it’s important to remember everything you went through, because you are better for it. I just want to say thank you to my peers for making High School the wild but amazing ride that it was. I wish you all the best! Congratulations Class of 2020!”  

Zoe said she loved the community parade and that it was her favorite of the whole graduation experience. She could feel the community coming together in the limitations that were upheld. She felt so loved by her fellow class mates and her community.

“It was amazing to see my class one last time and visualize all of the support for us graduates,” she said.

Zoe will be attending the University of California, Riverside, majoring in neuroscience. While she is excited to jump into research as soon as possible, perhaps it won’t be the last time we see her light shine upon us all.