MANCHESTER — A few years ago, Moses Fernandez wasn't the kind of kid who was going to college.

“At school, I did just well enough to get by,” he said.

Sunday, Fernandez graduated with the rest of the Nashua High School South senior class. He spoke during the graduation ceremony held at the Verizon Wireless Arena of his struggle to get through high school.

He will start in the fall at New England College, on a full scholarship.

Fernandez was getting mostly Ds, doing the minimal amount of school work while working 30 to 35 hours a week at McDonald's. It seemed normal to him.

The summer before his senior year, Fernandez awoke to sheriff's deputies storming his room to evict him and his sister from their apartment. Soon, the whole family was in the one-bedroom apartment his mother rented, sleeping on the floor and couch.

“There were just too many people in that one-bedroom apartment,” he said. “I wanted to make a change.

Fernandez cut back his hours at McDonald's and put his energy into his school work, earning all As this year. Fernandez's hard work and determination won him a scholarship.

This is what Valedictorian Sreenivas Appasani would call the true measure of success.

“Being successful means passionately pursuing your passions,” Appasani said.

Appasani challenged his fellow graduates to find out what they are passionate about and pursue that with hard work.

Class Co-President Tyler Stanley encouraged the class to engage life without fear of failure.

“Imagine all the things you would try if you knew you could never fail,” he said.

People who succeed are those who are able to dream big and put action behind achieving those dreams, he said.

The other co-president, Hannah Drake, told fellow students to enjoy the moment of graduation, a time to mark when they have all made it through something big.

“For a second, everything in the world is right,” she said.

Their collective high school experience was made up of such moments, when the students completed large tasks, or played in big sports games.

“It was a collections of moments that moved us and shook us,” she said.