Parents discuss graduation - part 2 - the graduation ceremonies

DW: By the oddities of calendars, Hyrum graduated with an Associates degree in Arts and in Sciences before he got his high school diploma on May 23. He managed both with a 4.0. For pictures of his Ranger graduation, see here.

Driving to his Ranger graduation was an adventure. Both Waze and Google Maps did not know where Ranger College's auditorium is! We ended up behind their football stadium and on a dirt road or two before we finally found it.

Joy: I really loved the talk given by their returning graduate, but Hyrum thought it was too long. That graduation was the first Real feelings for me, that this is really happening and he is really becoming an adult ... and probably my first feelings of him really leaving. Like, it all felt more real with the graduation ceremony. And when they awarded the diplomas and they say, "We now proclaim you" whatever, I was really proud of all the high school students who did this. What an amazing accomplishment! I was glad he was able to sit with friends on the stand because they had few enough graduates they could all sit on the stage. (Only graduates from the high schools and certifications were at that particular graduation.)

DW: It was a pleasant ceremony. It was packed. I wish we could have sat closer so my camera could get a GOOD picture. Thankfully, a friend at work had a better seat and she got shots of Hyrum by her boy.

Joy: His high school graduation was memorable because he was valedictorian, but I really felt the Solemnity of his Ranger graduation, the feeling that My Boy is an adult and I should treat him like one.

DW: My parents came out for Hyrum's high school graduation, which we really appreciate. It was in the brand spanking new stadium, christened for the event. I was surprised fewer people mentioned that fact.

Joy: The whole city came! It was insane! They only ran out of pamphlets/programs two hours before it started!

[Left: Hyrum is the tall fellow ont he right.]

DW: We got up to the second story on the far side of the field, and could see the procession leaving the junior high across the street to prepare for the march across the new football field. You could hear the clanking of all the medals the lead students were wearing. In our last post, I showed Hyrum's many medals. He chose to only wear three for the graduation in his customary modesty - one for tennis, one for UIL, and Valedictorian.

The salutatorian gave a good speech about all their graduating class had been through, reviewing the past.

Joy: I appreciated the details she gave about the class as a whole.

DW: Here is his introduction:

DW: Then Hyrum stood and spoke of the future, which you can also hear at the earlier post. It was a spectacular thing, seeing him there at the very front of the graduates in the first chair.

Joy: He saw us and waved when he marched in. That was nice.

DW: I was touched that he not only mentioned his parents, but called us by name. He didn't have to.

Joy: We were definitely stars in his show.

DW: Once the degrees had been awarded, several things happened that were not explained to the audience, so they must have been traditions. The students certainly seemed to know what was going on, but we didn't! One part was that they had everyone sing along with John Denver, Country Roads, Take Me Home.

An aerial view of the high school

Joy: Words unaltered.

DW: I gotta rant, that was a very weird choice. I love me some John Denver, and I love Country Roads. But it's very explicit that that song is about West Virginia, Mountain Mama. The whole first verse is about the Shandoah River and Blue Ridge Mountains! It would not have been overly difficult to have either skipped that verse or to change the words slightly to fit local geographic features.

"Northern Texas, Stephenvi-ille, Take me Home!"

And then the second verse references the "misty taste of moonshine." Singing about backyard alcohol brewing at a high school graduation is a very interesting choice, in my opinion. *lol*

But Hyrum assures me that all things happened according to tradition, with students leaving their seats to dance together in middle. [Edit: Hyrum also thought Country Roads an odd choice.]

Joy: Some kind of an arm-over-shoulders dance thing.

DW: Program would have helped. But once we found our son, it was remarkably easy to drive out and get home. The vehicle traffic was shockingly light for how many people were in attendance.

Joy: It seemed to me that Hyrum's high school graduation day was one of the happiest days of his high school. He felt part of the school and accepted by everyone.

DW: For once, people have been truly congratulatory instead of ribbing him over his excellence. And since his graduation, every comment I've heard at least has been genuinely congratulatory.  

We had a good time with my parents. We played games and watched Support Your Local Sherrif and just chatted. They gave him an electric scooter to use at BYU. We gave him his first smartphone a few months ago.

Joy: And he remembered that was his graduation present. For his graduation from Ranger, we paid for a tennis UTR competition last week, where he won third place.