Graduation in the Modern Age

By Drew Millard

Author’s note: By the time the Tryon Daily Bulletin publishes this column, I will be hours away from my high school graduation. This is a big deal in every person’s life, and all of my fellow graduates — myself included — have our unique thoughts and opinions on the moment in which the state of North Carolina deems us fit to enter the real world. Unfortunately, only the top five students in the senior class actually get to give speeches telling their perspectives on how everything has gone. I’m not in the top five, but I have a lot of things to say about our impending graduation, so naturally, I’m going to use today’s column as an opportunity for publishing what is tantamount to my graduation speech:

You know, time has a funny way of sneaking up on you. For four years now, I’ve been thinking that I’d be stuck in high school forever, but now, as I try and gather my thoughts on graduation, it hits me that these four years have gone by way too fast.
This senior year of high school has literally been the best year of my life. I have had more amazing experiences with my fellow seniors than you can shake a stick at, and I know that I don’t just speak for myself when I say that. However, we have to cherish those memories, because things are about to change.

It’s hard to realize that our lives, which were really based around being in high school, are about to change completely as we’re thrust out into the real world. For some of us, the structure that high school offered, letting us know that every day we had somewhere to go where not a lot of work was necessarily done but we still knew that we had a purpose, that structure is gone. We no longer have Mr. Greene to inspire us, Mr. Campbell to impart his wisdom upon us, or Mrs. White to strike fear in our hearts. I think that I speak for us all when I say that I am thoroughly afraid of that woman.

But while that notion that we’re leaving our comfort zones is frightening, not one of my fellow seniors can tell me that they aren’t even just a little bit ready to move on.

The exciting thing about the next step is that we can do, within reason, whatever the heck we want. And we will, whether that means moving out of the house, going to college, getting a job, or sitting around the house playing videogames and watching reruns of South Park.

There will be, after graduation, very few people left to tell us what to do. Now that, my friends, is exciting.

We are on the cusp of unlimited potential. The world is just waiting for us to go out there and tame it. On the other hand, when we wake up tomorrow, we will all feel pretty much the same. Graduating high school does not make you an expert in every field known to mankind, not that we wouldn’t like to think so. These days, a high school diploma doesn’t get you much. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. In life, there are no benchmarks for success. There will be ups, downs, and in-betweens, and the only thing we can do is embrace the challenge.

Now, I’m going to thank a few teachers and faculty members who have helped me immensely along the way. Mrs. Kathy Brown, Mrs. Dawn Forward, Mr. Buck Preston, Coach Lennox “Rock” Charles, Coach Will Pack, Coach Steven Pack, Mrs. Mary Feagan, Coach Jeff Wilson, Mrs. Betsy Copolillo, Mrs. Bessie Goodwin, Mrs. Tawana Weicker, Mr. Jerry Suarez, Mr. Robert “Douggie Fresh” Campbell, and Mrs. Laura White: you have all, whether you know it or not, taught me countless lessons, not just in your subjects, but in life, and I wish now that I had done more in my time as a student to show how much you all have meant to me. So thank you.

In conclusion, I leave you with a piece of Campbell wisdom: “Respect the ladies.” Always remember that, friends. Always.

Here ends the speech, as at this point, I will be thrown off the stage.