Wyndi and I (and several hundred others) were in attendance for the Dublin High School graduation ceremony on Friday, March 24 to see many seniors I’ve known for years get their diploma and step out into the world.
Working in community journalism puts you in a weird place because you’re always kind of on the outside taking photos of the big events in people’s lives, but if you cover enough events, people will at least recognize the person frantically messing with camera settings in the corner as the ‘newspaper guy’ or ‘newspaper girl.’
I was on hand to take pictures of many milestones of the graduating class from Pre-K to senior year.
This included the sixth or so prom I covered earlier in the month. This is funny because I actually missed out on my own prom when I drug my feet on asking anyone to go with me.
I was embarrassed to go stag so I stayed home and heard all sorts of stories the next Monday about what I had missed- many of the stories came from people who went with friends or by themselves.
As time has gone on, I’ve regretted the decision, mainly because I missed on sharing a shared event with many of my friends, some whom I still keep contact with to this day.
If I have any wisdom to share with our new graduates, it’s always consider what you’ll miss. If you have a chance to see a friend visiting the area but it’s only a couple of hours, take the time you can get.
If you have an event you want to attend but can’t go on your own terms, consider if it’s really better to miss out on it entirely.
People often told me from experience ‘you only regret the things you don’t do.’ I echo the statement from experience... although I hear I didn’t miss much by not watching “Batman and Robin.”
I was thinking what other words of wisdom I could impart and then I heard the valedictorian and salutatorian addresses from Dublin and Lingleville. (See quotes on the stories on Page A1.)
They offered a lot of wise words including some we as adults would do well to remember: “Know your boundaries and make time for those in your life who care because the connections will last a lifetime.”
They say wisdom comes from experience. I think we take for granted that means we get wiser with age. We also get jaded and tired and sometimes forget what’s important.
I encourage the graduates stepping out into the world to keep their ears open for good advice from their elders, but I also encourage everyone to listen to what the younger generations have to say.