It’s been a few years, but “the speech” is still fresh in our memories. High school graduation is one of those times we find difficult to forget. We tend to remember life’s landmark moments, and the celebration that ends 12 years of public school is certainly on that list.
Sure, there are different versions of the speech, and the one you heard probably had something to do with the decade in which you graduated, the region of the nation where you received your diploma and the type of speaker your school selected to deliver the commencement address.
But most of the speeches cover the same basic ground. Chances are the talk you heard included sentiments like, “standing on the threshold of tomorrow,” “poised to begin life’s great journey” or “embarking on a great adventure.”
But no matter how corny the speeches may sound, the fact remains that high school graduation is a pivotal moment in our lives. Nothing is ever the same again. We are forever changed.
Accepting that diploma is symbolic of leaving one life behind and starting out on a new path. We are about to begin our future, and that’s an exciting and frightening proposition.
We are about to leave behind all that’s familiar — the classrooms where we spent so many hours, the local hangouts where we got together with our friends, the rooms where we woke up on so many mornings — and enter a future that’s filled with promise and shrouded in uncertainty at the same time.
Who knows what that future will bring? Who can guess where life will take us?
Young people all across Denton County are now asking themselves similar questions right now. It’s time for high school commencement, and in stadiums, coliseums, gymnasiums and auditoriums throughout the area, the future is about to begin for a new crop of graduates.
To each of those graduates, we say, “Well done.” We congratulate you on completing a successful high school career, on having the determination and stamina it takes to overcome many challenges and earn a diploma. You stuck it out, and this moment is yours.
We know your parents, grandparents and other family members are proud of you, and rightfully so. We join them in wishing you the very best of luck as you step out of graduation’s spotlight and into the promise of a bright future.
A two-page section featuring valedictorians and salutatorians from area high schools is scheduled for publication in Sunday’s Denton Record-Chronicle. Senior photos will be in a special graduation publication inside today’s issue.
Congratulations to them and to all members of the 2012 graduating classes.
