Camera and tissues in hand, the familiar music of Pomp and Circumstance starts and we scan the faces as the graduates file in. Earlier I had asked Sarah which row she would be sitting in and she proudly told me the first row! I am #17 in my class! And the honor grads sit on the first row!
So she was easy to spot, actually sitting next to her longtime friend Sarah Z from across the street.
Graduation ceremonies evoke emotions in everyone who attend. The graduates may think this is just another day until they are all gathered in that ceremony and hear the traditional music and then it hits them that this is it, the end of school life as they have known it. They have mixed feelings, both sad and excited, about leaving their friends and possibly family and heading out on their own.
The thoughts and emotions of the day were captured in the featured song, I'm Not Gonna Cry by Corey Smith, sung by graduate Rebecca Hood:
The whole town gathered around
Waited 18 years now it's all comin down to this.
I scanned the crowd and it fills my soul
My best friends all here in rows
No turning back, Now its time to walk that line
This tassel is gonna turn
But when the moment passes by
We'll just walk away
Then slowly grow apart
But I'm not gonna cry, no
Not one sad or happy tear
I've waited my whole life
Now I'm gonna fly right outta here
Anyone who has ever graduated hears the graduation march and remembers that time in their life. Underclassmen watch and anticipate their own upcoming ceremony - how the seniors sing the Alma mater (I don't even know the words said Racheal) and do the traditional foot stomping and yelling at the appropriate times. Grandmothers with cameras (and we were well represented!) document the event through blurry eyes.
Class of 2012 - go out and conquer the world!
And remember YOLO!
(class motto You Only Live Once)
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