graduation

And within a few hours of applauds and words of praise, the Class of 2010 was off.
Some with a direct path.
Some with very little direction at all.
Some who think they have "it" all together.
Some who know they don't and worry...others who know they don't and are not worried at all!
Some who glowed today with every praise and accolade showered upon them...hopeful for the future.
Some who looked downright fearful at the next step.
Some who looked me in the eye and said, "Thank you for everything."
Some who couldn't look at me at all but hugged me as if they didn't want to let go and that said, "Thank you for everything", too.
Graduation is always a bittersweet day. So proud of what our students have accomplished but mostly of the young men and women whom they have become. It's lovely to have good grades, win lots of trophies, receive many honors, but the students of whom I am the most proud are the ones who have really grown into young adults over the course of their time at St. Andrew's. The ones who recognized that high school wasn't only for learning grammar and Physics and Spanish but also for learning about themselves, about others, and about the world around them.
I always feel like we're launching a bunch of ships or setting a bunch of balloons free on graduation day. Or really, it's more like a mix of the two. I think of the ships as those who know where they are going; they know who their captains are; they have a course all charted; and they go forth with confidence...and a bit of fear, too. The balloons are a little more free. They float around, tossed to and fro by the air currents around them, meandering through the atmosphere without any evident path. Scary? Perhaps. More adventurous? Maybe. More playful? Probably.
And in each class we have some of each...the ships who have studied the charts and picked (what they think is) the best route...and the balloons who are content to frolic in the air and land wherever they may land. And, of course, we have those who are ships but really wish they were balloons...and vice-versa.
But what I've realized over the years is that ships or balloons, they will in all likelihood encounter many of the same things in life. There will be outside forces directing their paths; there will be surprises for all of them. They will have to adjust their plans and dreams and be resourceful and resilient if they are to keep moving ahead. And there's something quite wonderful about that. No matter how "together" or not "together" they feel, they are all really quite similar. Unique, of course, because they are individuals. But there are common threads that hold us all together as humans.
So as another group of students leaves us, I hope we've given them what they need...or enough of what they need...to follow their dreams, overcome life's setbacks, and live a life full of meaning. Godspeed SAS Class of 2010!