Class of...
We had our graduation ceremonies last Saturday at the school where I work. The school is a college prepatory school, therefore not as big as the public schools in my city. Our graduation ceremony is a little bit different from any other I've attended in that each graduate has about 20-30 seconds alone on the stage in front of the crowd while all of their accomplishments are read in front of the audience and their fellow classmates. It makes for a long ceremony, but it's actually a pretty neat idea. The graduates get one last moment in front of their class, their teachers, their parents and everyone else in attendance. There is one last synopsis for the crowd, one last affirment for the teachers, one more photo op for the parents and one last moment for the student to hear his/her high school accomplishments. Almost like closing the door behind them. Then they walk to the other side of the stage receive a handshake and a diploma and they are no longer high school students.
I remember my high school graduation nine years ago. Two things stand out about that to me now: 1.) No amount of money would be enough to convince me to be 17 again. 2.) I see no one from my high school graduating class on a consistent basis. I'm not sure what that says about anything at all, but for all the importance and time and effort that goes into growing up, it seems that a person changes more in the four to five years after high school than anytime during primary or secondary education. I think it has a lot to do with meeting new people, becoming independent of parents, becoming more dependent on yourself, and facing your future in a more direct way than you ever had before. You are forced to change or quite possibly you will not succeed.
I chaperoned our school's "Project Graduation" for the second straight year this year. We loaded up all the seniors on two charter buses after graduation and headed to Nashville. We rented a cabin and had dancing and kareoke and food and a cartoonist who was incredibly talented. The students danced and sang and ate and hung out with each other. As I was making my rounds around the property making sure no one had slipped into the woods, I could hear the music playing from in the cabin. I don't remember what song what was playing, but I do remember thinking that this more than likely was the last time everyone of these students would be together at the same time and in the same place again. That's a pretty powerful thought if you let sink in. It's not a sad thought, though. Some of our graduates are going all over the country to try their best to do something positive, some are looking forward to their respective college's football games, and some are just going to party and inevitably they will be back here in January. Whatever the reasons we go to college, we know that after four years (or more) we won't be the same. One last time together with classmates is fun, but it doesn't grow anyone. It's one last time to be together in one place while the world waits patiently. I'm not sure how the Class of 2006 will do, but I suspect it won't feel much different than any class before it.
I remember my high school graduation nine years ago. Two things stand out about that to me now: 1.) No amount of money would be enough to convince me to be 17 again. 2.) I see no one from my high school graduating class on a consistent basis. I'm not sure what that says about anything at all, but for all the importance and time and effort that goes into growing up, it seems that a person changes more in the four to five years after high school than anytime during primary or secondary education. I think it has a lot to do with meeting new people, becoming independent of parents, becoming more dependent on yourself, and facing your future in a more direct way than you ever had before. You are forced to change or quite possibly you will not succeed.
I chaperoned our school's "Project Graduation" for the second straight year this year. We loaded up all the seniors on two charter buses after graduation and headed to Nashville. We rented a cabin and had dancing and kareoke and food and a cartoonist who was incredibly talented. The students danced and sang and ate and hung out with each other. As I was making my rounds around the property making sure no one had slipped into the woods, I could hear the music playing from in the cabin. I don't remember what song what was playing, but I do remember thinking that this more than likely was the last time everyone of these students would be together at the same time and in the same place again. That's a pretty powerful thought if you let sink in. It's not a sad thought, though. Some of our graduates are going all over the country to try their best to do something positive, some are looking forward to their respective college's football games, and some are just going to party and inevitably they will be back here in January. Whatever the reasons we go to college, we know that after four years (or more) we won't be the same. One last time together with classmates is fun, but it doesn't grow anyone. It's one last time to be together in one place while the world waits patiently. I'm not sure how the Class of 2006 will do, but I suspect it won't feel much different than any class before it.
posted by Gabe at 7:27 AM
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