Graduation, TMP Style

 

 

By Paris Dailey, Bernadette Karns and Jess Romero.

High school is a time in your life you will never forget and as graduation approaches you will be beginning a new chapter of your life, but does it end there? Steve Rogers, our beloved mathematics teacher, gives us one answer: “I’ve graduated many times, but graduating from high school is different, because you’ve generally been improving your life and your knowledge and friendships keep getting bigger, but when you step out and go to college you narrow it down to get a job in something specific, and that’s the wonderful thing about high school. It’s this point in time where you really develop these relationships along with yourself. Now you’ve taken this step and now the whole world is open to you.”

In our small school Lori Miller, our guidance counselor, grows attached to each and every student, especially as they approach graduation day.  As she says, “They’re my babies.” At this point in the year she gets emotional because these students she’s worked with and watched grow in to fine young adults are preparing to move to the next phase in their life.  “I bawl every year… I live for my students… I’m so proud”.

Graduation is special day not just for the students who are finishing high school, but for their parents, and also for the teachers and advisors who helped them get there. Lori likes knowing that she and the rest of the TMP staff “played a part in shaping their lives”. So when graduation day arrives, she has every right to get excited and even a little emotional about it. She shows us through her words just the amount of love and dedication she puts into her students: “I’m just as proud of them as I am of my own kids”.

But let’s see what our graduating seniors have to say about the high school experience and how they feel about life after it. So we spoke to one of the seniors of the class of 2016, Maya Johnson, who gave us some of her thoughts. “It’s not real, like OMG am I ready, what’s next? I’m excited but at the same time I’m scared. If there’s one thing that I’ve at TMP, though, it’s to be open, and that it’s okay to forget the plan.”

Graduation at the MASTER’S Program is unique because unlike a traditional ceremony, it’s about the students first. Here, there is no valedictorian and no speeches from adults you’ve never met; instead, students make the speeches, and every student has the opportunity to speak or perform. Afterwards there’s food and refreshment. This year, graduation will be held at 4 pm on Thursday, May 19th in the Santa Fe Community College Fitness Center.