Windsor
But, it’s unclear, said Salutatorian Karen Fan as she addressed a field full of family and friends at the Windsor High graduation Friday night, whether Steve is a boy or a girl. See, she explained, most of the yellowjackets we see in the wild are femals since the male bees die, rather unceremoniously, after mating.
“So it got me thinking,” she said. “Is Steve a female, or an awkward male avoiding his inevitable doom? I think the real question and a controversial issue in our society today is: which bathroom should Steve use?”
Ice broken.
“The answer is that Steve is a yellowjacket,” Fan said to a laughing, applauding crowd of about 250. “It represents our entire community consisting of talented, caring, exceptional people. …Steve represents us. And I will always be proud of being a yellowjacket.”
While her opening words were about her community it became clear Fan was there to talk about what was ahead. She talked about all the new things she tried, just in senior year alone: applying for college, skiing, amaretto flavored ice cream. The thrill of each just a hint of all the new still to be discovered.
“Don’t wait until senior year to try skiing for the first time or walk a handsome dog or fall in love for the first time,” she said. “Don’t wait for a specific moment in time to do something positive, figure out ways to do it and do it now. Don’t deprive yourself of opportunities that come knocking at your doors. Because as fast as they come, they go. Now is the moment to live in and when you do, you will find yourself open to the adventures of life.”
Valedictorian Tristan McMullen also took a moment to marvel with his 38 other graduates of all the opportunities they’ve already had to experience, and do new things, and visit faraway places, despite being a small class, in a small school in a small town. He credited his teachers for their care and for making all these new things fun and something the students wanted to do.
“Once we leave here, we will all go our separate ways,” he said. “It is important to look ahead. …but you always want to look back and remember. For it is our experiences that have set us on our path and made us who we are today.”
While the students spoke of the great adventures ahead, the adults offered a bit of nostalgia and some practical advice to pack away on their long journeys.
Windsor High Principal Tiffany Cassano said she knew as her students looked toward the future a part of them was likely running scenes from the past. Picture postcard memories of Jazz Fest and school shows, math team and student council. She speculated some of them may even be wondering how this day came so fast, while others, in their minds, were already gone.
“Either way,” she said, “embrace this moment and soak it all in.”
She told them that, wherever they went, there is the scantest of lines between success and failure, and that the difference between the two lies in the courage to take healthy risks.
“Don’t let your fear limit you,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams, because each of you has the skills and knowledge to reach your goals. All you need to do is believe in yourself.”
As for keynote speaker, retired director and current enrichment teacher at Windsor Early Childhood Education Center Marie Carmichael had some very specific advice. She wrapped each bit of it around them like a mom whose bundled lots of kids up, readying them the cold outside. She told them to pay attention to their basic needs, to stay in balance and take care of their brains. They should be scientists she said and thoughtful users of technology all the while staying proactive. But the last thing was maybe the most important of all.
“Here is the truth,” Carmichael said. “You have value. You have worth. You are loved, so trust the voices of those who love you. Trust the enormous chorus of voices that say only one thing: you matter.”
Eventually and with great importance and a little impatience, each graduate took his or her turn crossing the stage, taking a paper, and getting one last word, hug and handshake from their teachers who stood along the field waiting to receive them.
They made their way around the field flanked on one side by bleachers full of friends and undergrads, on the other rows of parents, whose pride pushed away the bittersweet in fits and starts of grins and they watched this victory lap.
In the end, they moved the tassels, flipped their hats and it was over.
A Billy Joel song echoed through the speakers, advising, “slow down, you crazy child.”
And they did slow down, if only for a moment. The music faded. A few well-wishers trailed away off the field and up the dirt road towards home. But the parents and grads held tight to the center of the field, wanting to stay for just a little longer.
Emily Anderson, River Valley Community College; Chloe Balch, Castleton University; Kylie Bourque, Community College of Vermont; Mike Bradley, Green Mountain College; Katey Comstock, Franklin Pierce University; Gabrielle Davidson, Husson University; Amber DeBartolo, San Diego State University; Zachary Doiron, Americorps and later St. Francis Xavier College; Karen Fan, Syracuse University; Tanner Fitzherbert; Jebadiah Formichelli; Jacob Garnjost, Temple University; Taylor Gilbert, work; Connor Gould, work; Allen Heideman, work; Casey Husband, University of Vermont; Nick Kapuscinski, Merrimack College; Mindi Mayo, New England School of Hair Design; Tristan McMullen, Dartmouth College; Jacob Meagher, UVM; River Merriam, work; Teagan Michaud, RVCC; Joshua Moore; Madeleine Morse, St. Michael’s College; Samantha Poland, work; Victoria Richardson, work; Rebecca Rumrill, work; Zachary Simino, Unity College; Timothy Sprague, work; Katrina Strout, work; Miranda Sweeney, work; Ashleigh Sweet; Bradford W. Thompson IV, work; Naila Thompson, U.S. Navy; Emily Williams.