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High school graduation day is a time for dreaming, whether done consciously or in the deep recesses of a young person's mind.

The dream might be of a future career path, advanced academic pursuits or the more traditional American dream of having a family and a house of one's own with or without the white picket fence.

The dream of all things possible coursed through the keynote address delivered by an obviously favorite faculty member at the Skyview High School Class of 2009 graduation ceremony.

Lacing his speech with a good helping of humor, Skyview Russian teacher Gregory Weissenberg asked rhetorically, "Why would I, a person of standing, a professional in my own Soviet Union, be grateful of being an American?"

Since he came to the United States in 1991, first teaching at Soldotna High School, then Skyview, he said he has completely changed into an evolved species.

Some of the surprises that greeted him were: "I didn't come to the land of the free; I came to the land of the VCR.

"I was surprised by the Bill of Rights, especially the freedom of speech and freedom of the press," Weissenberg said. "There were so many jokes and cartoons about the then-President."

That practice was forbidden in his former Soviet Union home.

Then, when he went to his first sports competition with SoHi, he was surprised to see the other team's jerseys that read "CIA."

"Wow, the Central Intelligence Agency has its own high school team," he said he remembers thinking. "They sure start them young."

One year, as a winter Olympics hockey game matchup between Russia and the United States was about to air on TV, Weissenberg heard his son, Misha, yell, "Go USA!"

"My son asked: 'Dad, who are you rooting for?'" Weissenberg said.

"I suddenly realized how I'd become a complicated man," he said.

With a last name like Weissenberg, he said his name didn't even fit in in the Soviet Union.

"It didn't end in '-sky' or '-o,'" he said.

Weissenberg then displayed a front page newspaper article from Billings, Mont., he once read, reporting on a spate of hate-related incidents in the western town.

Someone had hurled a brick through the window of a Jewish resident and several graves bearing Jewish people's names were vandalized at the Billings cemetery.

Surprisingly, the townspeople, some wearing Native attire and some in their accustomed clothing of Catholic priests, demonstrated under the banner: "Not in our town."

Weissenberg referred to the Declaration of Independence statement: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

He said they are more than simply profound words contained in a formal document.

"The spirit of it is everywhere," he said.

After reading the article in the Billings newspaper and calling to mind the statement that all men are created equal, Weissenberg said, "If there were any thoughts of not becoming American citizens, they went away."

His heart, he said, remains in Moldova, where he was born, but "Home is where you live a happy and dignified life.

"My wife, Olga, and I found that in a little town with a funny sounding name -- Soldotna," he said.

Borrowing from President Abraham Lincoln, Weissenberg said, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

"Class of 2009, make up your minds -- be happy."

His words were not lost on graduate Jerrod Williams.

After receiving his diploma, Williams said, "It's exhilarating to say the least. It's a happy time for everyone. It's a, 'We did it' thing."

Senior student body president Marquee Lucas will be pursuing her dream of a career in medicine following graduation.

Heading to Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, Lucas hopes for a degree in physicians assistant or midwifery.

"I was offered a scholarship there," she said when asked why she will be going to BYU.

She visited the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, as well, and said, "The atmosphere on both campuses is great. They're both church schools," she said of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints institutions.

Alex Cook has plans to attend AVTEC in Seward to become an electrician.

"I went to the job fair and talked to a guy with Big G (Electric)," Cook said. "He said I could get an apprenticeship."

Cook has no fears of finding employment in a depressed economy.

Friend Shaun Newsome has applied to Job Corps in three states: Alaska, Texas and South Carolina.

During the current three- to four-month waiting list period, he said he plans to work wherever he can.

"Starting Monday (following graduation) I'll be doing the Gottschalks sign job," he said.

Marie Brooks, the mother of graduate Leilani Brooks, said her daughter wants to become a photographer.

"She does a lot of family portraits," the elder Brooks said.

When asked what she thinks of her daughter graduating, Marie Brooks said, "It's awesome.

"She's overcome a lot," she said.

Marie's husband, Randy, suffers with a brain tumor.

The family started Saddle Up!, an equine-facilitated rehabilitation program.

"Lani is very much involved," Marie Brooks said. "She helps train the horses."

When Lani's significant other -- Gabe O'Lena -- was asked if high school graduation means the couple can now get married, start a family and buy a house, he said, "Little steps, one at a time."

Though O'Lena has close family members in Indiana, with a laugh Marie Brooks said, "Gabe already knows he has to live here."

Kadie Perletti, who will be attending Portland State in Oregon with a focus on journalism or political science, said upon graduation, she probably will miss hanging around with friends and playing sports the most.

She played volleyball, was one of the Skyview basketball team captains and ran hurdles with the track team.

"I'll miss just having a lot of fun," she said.

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.