Graduation time

As I write this, my seniors have eleven days of classes left. How do they spend their time for those eleven days? Perhaps this will surprise some of you, but by and large they spend those last eleven days much like they spent the preceding 167 days—doing homework, trying to get good grades, competing in musical and athletic competitions, and generally enjoying each other’s company before they begin to drift apart following their graduation. There’s much to accomplish before then: mandatory CPR for everyone, dealing with scholarship applications and student housing notifications, helping parents with cleaning out the garage before their graduation reception, and wrapping up the big senior project for English 12. Despite the sometimes popular opinion to the contrary, the seniors don't coast or check out for the end of their high school careers. And our teachers wouldn't let them! Standards remain high right on through the end of the school year; and with what I'm seeing for post-high school plans from this group of seniors, college will continue to challenge them academically. And although I hear the word “stressed” uttered from the mouths of seniors more often now than usual, I quietly smile because I know that what they're experiencing doesn't hold a candle to the stresses and pressures they'll face as adults. But that's the way of things: perspectives change with experience, and we seek new experiences based on changing perspectives. The more we learn, the more we can handle. Next fall, the cycle comes around again...a fresh faced wobbly group of little pre-schoolers will let go of their teary-eyed parent's hands and walk into their new classrooms for the first time, and last year's juniors will step into the high school and seek out the seats in the lunchroom that seniors traditionally occupy. Happens every year. So when my seniors ask me if I'll miss them, the answer is 'yes' of course, but I'm not sad. Graduation is the day we've been preparing for all these years, after all.