Yup, that’s my niece, Katy. Class of 2013. I went to her Sherwood High graduation ceremony yesterday and listened to the speeches and singing and discussions about the future. All that, of course, brought back memories of my high school graduation and the amazingly long and winding road before me. So exciting. So scary. So many opportunities, possibilities, adventures.
I remember not even wanting to participate in the pomp and circumstance. I was ready to go, go, go. I had no need to mark from whence I’d come. Mom and Dad put the kibosh on skipping the cap and gown pretty adamantly (a scene that replayed itself 4 years later at the end of my Indiana University tenure). So I went. I don’t really remember much about the ceremony at all. I remember Audrey singing a song, which was really beautiful. I remember my friend, Joel, wearing Chuck Taylors under his gown, which was hilarious. And I remember getting caught in the rain in a car whose windshield wipers didn’t work and almost not getting to the ceremony at all, which would have gotten me into a lot of trouble because I’m sure my parents would have decided I’d planned it. I’d love to say my attitude about my graduation ceremony changed over the years, but it really hasn’t. I probably still would try to weasel out of it today.
I do remember, and saw again yesterday, the excitement over what was to come. The possibilities seem, and are, limitless. Katy’s commencement speaker touched on this, but his message was his fear that he, and they, would get discouraged if the Plan they have now doesn’t materialize easily. His deal was, keep on trying to get your dream, or a different dream, just keep reaching. It was a great message, and I hope the kids were listening and filing it away. I might have remembered this one, had I heard it years ago.
Because after high school, I think most people’s path is a meandering one. I know mine was. I started college hoping to be a music major (voice), but fairly quickly decided that the combination of music theory classes (!) and the fact that everyone in the music school sang better than I did meant a change was in order. I switched to broadcast journalism, but even after that, decided that wasn’t what I wanted. I was all set to go to USC (Trojans, not Gamecocks) for law school, but zigged again at the last minute and went to Abilene, Texas, where we did news on weekdays only, and if something happened on the weekend, we’d tell them about it on Monday. But that’s for another post.
I guess what really prompted me to write about Katy’s graduation is that it reminded me how much I loved standing at “Go” and being 17 years old about to launch myself on the world. I don’t want to do it over again, but I’m excited at all the adventures that lie ahead for Katy. Anything is possible. So much will happen. I still remember the feeling at the starting point of the long and winding road.
Leave a Reply