Graduations are a joyous occasion
There were certainly a lot of graduation goings-on over the
weekend. Mortarboards were tossed high into the air; valedictorians
spoke of what they’d learned and what was to come in the future;
diplomas were handed out, one by one, to gowned figures striding
across a stage.
Everyone going through graduation thinks it’s the end of
something, but it’s really a beginning. A portal into
possibilities.
Graduations are a joyous occasion
There were certainly a lot of graduation goings-on over the weekend. Mortarboards were tossed high into the air; valedictorians spoke of what they’d learned and what was to come in the future; diplomas were handed out, one by one, to gowned figures striding across a stage.
Everyone going through graduation thinks it’s the end of something, but it’s really a beginning. A portal into possibilities.
Take, for instance, my friend Penny’s daughter. Last Thursday, she graduated from middle school. Some people don’t really count graduation from eighth grade as being anything major; for this girl, though, it was.
I’ve seen her grow from a poor student into a very good one, and from a child to a beautiful young woman. She’s had some problems to overcome, and she seems to be doing just that.
Now the next door has opened for her – high school – and it is a chance for her to leave her troubles behind, to do new things, to be someone different, if that’s what she wants.
Another friend’s son graduated from high school last week. He has chosen to take a year off before going off to college. As it should be at this age, it will be a time for him to discover who he is and what he wants to do with his life.
I remember my own high school graduation as a rather wondrous event. For me, a good but not outstanding student, there were no special prizes or recognition. I wasn’t valedictorian. I wasn’t even in the top 10 percent. But it was thrilling for me to realize that this part of my life was over, and something new was going to begin.
Getting the diploma immediately made me feel, for the first time, like I was in charge of my own life. I felt invincible, like I could do anything, as the sounds of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” blared from the loudspeakers and we all marched away.
Graduation is truly a grand day.
For some, it’s a blessed relief to finally be done with school and go on to be part of the adult world; for others, it’s a brief pause on the way to yet more school. Either way, it’s the start of something.
The first day of the rest of your life, as we used to say in the 1970s.
For many, there is a sense of sadness, as friends and teachers are left behind. That is always the worst part about going from something old to something new, but as these kids will find out, there will be many people passing in and out of their lives as the years go by.
Hanging on to friends should be a little easier these days, what with Facebook and all. But it’s still different and strange, leaving the familiar behind, and heading into parts unknown.
It’s the first of many big events in life that most of us share. There are other firsts, to be sure – getting a job, marrying, starting a family – but at no other time as high school graduation are we so carefree. Enjoy it while it lasts.
I remember that feeling – ready to take on the world and all it offered, making a place for myself somewhere in it. I couldn’t wait to leave home, and leave a lot of other things behind.
That’s the joy of graduation. Stepping through a doorway, and becoming something new. If only we could bottle it and keep it for those times when we forget how full of wonder life really is.
