GRADUATION & MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

This weekend was certainly a busy one with it being a graduation weekend and Memorial Day as well. 

My third-oldest niece, Ashley just graduated from high school on Friday. At first, I was a bit hesitant to attend assuming her graduating class was probably like 1000 students, but because Hilliard has three high schools, the students are a bit more evenly distributed, so it’s more like about 250 students.

The ceremony was held at the Schottenstein Center, known by locals as “the Schott.” Darby High School got the Friday night slot in the rotation this year, so that was nice, even though the ceremony only lasted perhaps two hours. It was my first time there, so it was nice to finally step inside and see it for myself.

We made sure to get there plenty early.  My niece, and her dad, who is on the faculty (and was participating) at Darby arrived separately, so we didn’t have to get there as early as them. Since seating is somewhat on a first come, first served basis, we had plenty of time to find decent seats and were quite pleased with them. In terms of being able to get decent pictures from where we sat, that was less of an issue since my new Canon point ‘n shoot has a pretty wicked zoom (but I probably should have made it more of a priority to study how to best use the camera so I could have gotten better shots).

Having not attended a high school graduation since that of my sister’s more than a quarter century ago, it was interesting to see that not a whole lot has changed in this American tradition. “Pomp & Circumstance” is still played as the students proceed in. The addition of a color guard who march in with military precision and then sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” is something I certainly don’t remember from my graduation, though that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one; It was over 30 years ago, so who knows?

I have to say I was really impressed with all the speeches given both by the faculty and the students – so much wisdom to impart; I actually jotted down a few notes myself. I only hope the students were paying attention and heed some the many gems like: ‘Read More,’ and ‘When you feel blessed you can’t feel stressed.’ One of my favorite bits of advice comes from Christopher Robin, “Promise me you’ll always remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Though, perhaps no one summed it up better than Hunter S. Thompson, “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a Ride!’”

One of the funnier parts of the ceremony was the impromptu rendition of “Country Roads” performed by Darby’s very own five-member boy band who seemed to surprise the principal with this unplanned moment. I later asked my niece about the significance of the song (which was supposedly their class song), and she said there really wasn’t one, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

A shout-out should go to the principal, Joyce Brickley, who made it a point to hug each and every one of the more than 200 graduates. My parents were certainly impressed by that, as was I. A shout-out should also go to the trio of Ashley’s coworkers from the Olive Garden who not only attended, but made personalized t-shirts for the occasion and brought visual aids as well.

Probably the best part of the evening was the photo shoot afterwards as everyone vied for their turn to get a picture with the graduate. I did slightly better here as I took enough multiples that I was confident my success ratio would be higher. I also enjoyed getting those unposed, off-the-cuff photos that will be the ones fondly enjoyed later (I hope).

After the last photo was taken and the sun slid behind the horizon, we made our way back home while we left the young graduate to make some more memories with her friends on this most special of evenings.

Congratulations Ashley and may you have a bright future ahead filled with lots of happiness and adventures. In the words of Mr. Miyagi, “Bonzai!”