Comments on: Valediction

By: Helen

Helen — Sat, 26 May 2007 15:16:52 +0000

Some of my best online friends are very young yet they are more mature than some of the IRL friends that are my age. ((hugs))

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sat, 26 May 2007 03:29:58 +0000

I don’t mind sharing, I just am a little abashed to be so young and so serious!

By: Helen

Helen — Sat, 26 May 2007 03:12:08 +0000

I remember how hard I worked to achieve good grades and yet it all seemed meaningless in the end. I remember the guidance counsellors were a joke. They pretty much asked you to write down what you thought you might like to be and then that was it, there was no real “guidance” about how to actually achieve your goals. I graduated in 1986 so maybe it’s different now (and I pray that it is for when my daughters are in high school). My parents had no education so they also had no knowledge on how to steer me in the directions I may have wanted to go either. Of course I’m totally happy with being a mommy and I’ll never regret a moment of my life’s path. The majority of my high school memories are of great friends and happy times. I was lucky in that respect.

So are you going to share with us what year you graduated? lol.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sat, 26 May 2007 02:02:11 +0000

AMEN, SISTER. During graduation exercises, they handed me a piece of paper and had me write down my top 3 career choices. After putting down “Mother,” I was at a loss for the other two.

By: Kasie

Kasie — Sat, 26 May 2007 00:45:18 +0000

I was a Valedictorian also and, the only thing I can remember from my speech is almost backing off the podium in front of a football stadium full of people. I was so nervous!!
I went on to get an Associates degree but chose to be a full-time Mom when I had the girls. I can remember seeing one of my old highschool teachers and getting the feeling that she was disappointed in me for “wasting my talent” by staying home. It’s sad how Motherhood is undervalued.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:16:58 +0000

I think you’re exactly right about our parents. I’m also impressed that you even got ‘leaves’ from that. It’s more than most people got, I’m sure.

I don’t think much of anything could really prepare us to leave home, though high school is supposed to prepare us for college. Just like college is supposed to prepare us for our future jobs. None of them really do.

Charlotteville is so PURDY! Good luck at your new job!

By: Erin Brown

Erin Brown — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:20:36 +0000

Today I thought, “Oh wow. I’m starting my 1st day as an intern at the Charlottesville Public Defender’s Office on the day I graduated from high school.

And honestly, the ONLY thing I could make out from your speech was something about “leaves” But now that I’ve read it…its like AHA!

Beautiful poem…but you’re right. Most of the kids weren’t prepared for good colleges, or even bottom tier schools. Fortunately, we did IB, but I wasn’t prepared for moving away from my family & home and becoming more responsible & independent.

Looking back, it seems high school wasn’t such a great foundation. But I’m a SECOND year law student, and you’re a mother and you’re knocking the socks off the SEO world. So I’d say we did something right!

Perhaps we should thank our parents.