Graduation Day

Yesterday was HS graduation at ICS and it got me thinking about my own students who are graduating this year. One of my 8th grade classes from BAICA will walk across the stage soon, as will my last group of 6th graders from Lincoln (the rest of my Lincoln students are already college aged, and hopefully IN college, which ummm, doesn't make feel old at all).  At a large high school like Pioneer, graduation is just two hours of torture, but at a small school it is kind of sweet, and every time I have to go to one it makes me want to stick around somewhere long enough to see my own students graduate. I am already setting aside mental space and money to be in Buenos Aires when the class of 2016 graduates, especially if one particular kid is still there.

It would be nice to see the kids that I have poured into make that move from childhood to adulthood. I look at my 8th graders and I look at the Seniors and I marvel at how quickly they grow and change in those four years. What I can't quite imagine is being one of their parents. I love watching the parents during the ceremony. They are looking at their 18 year old, but all they are seeing is the toothless baby grin, the kindergarten Mother's Day card, the awkward preteen enthusiasm, and the tears of teenage drama. For international Seniors, graduation often means moving to another country, another continent, and can mean living thousands of miles away from family- no wonder their moms are crying!

So maybe someday I will get to see my students, my kids, complete that milestone. I want to see the boys who wrote sixth grade poems full of poop jokes and girls who burst into tears when they forgot their PE clothes, the ones who loved reading Geronimo Stilton or struggled to line up their decimals. I want to see them look back and get all sentimental and then walk forward into all that life has for them.


Also, couldn't write this post without congratulating all my graduating cousins this year! Three from high school: Robin, Anna, and Will; one from undergrad: Carolyn; and one who just added an MD to her name: Rachel. Wish I had made it home in time for all the celebrations.