Performance - Commencement Ceremony

Traffic lights and two lane highways are unheard of from where I come from; cow farms and corn fields are much more familiar. As a small town girl, I naturally attended a very rural school my whole life. Peck Community School was a K-12 school, meaning there was one building for all grades, kindergarten through twelfth grade. In a small school, every event is a big event, including my high school graduation.

After a grueling thirteen years of education in at Peck High School, I was announced Valedictorian for the Class of 2007. I had worked my whole career as a student to reach that point, and I was finally able to say that I reached my goal. But with that position, I was given the responsibility of preparing a speech. What were the last words I would say to the students I had spent so much time with?

In addition to this honor and responsibility, I was the class president. I was in charge of making sure everything was in place for the “big day”. The flowers were ordered, the chairs were set up, the backdrop was designed, and the music was ready… There was so much left to do and so little time to do it. I wanted everything to be perfect so that when we walked in and out of that gym for the final time, we would have a beautiful memory to look back upon. We had rehearsal the Friday before the commencement ceremony. We practiced how we were to walk down the aisle, when to sit and when to stand, and how to walk across the stage. We were briefed about the order of events that were to take place the following Sunday.

The commencement ceremony finally arrived. My knees were shaking and my eyes were watering as I walked down the aisle with my boyfriend/best friend by my side. When all of my classmates had proceeded into the gymnasium, “Pomp and Circumstance” ended, and we were motioned to sit by our superintendent, Mr. Bush. After he had welcomed the students, family, faculty, and community to this event, he turned the microphone over to Mr. Roles, our principal. He gave a brief speech about our class as a whole, then began introducing the valedictorian, me. I could hardly pay attention to a word he said, because I was rehearsing my speech over and over in my head. I finally made my way to the stage. I began my speech with a joke, and kept it light, but heartfelt, mentioning those closest to me. I had people laughing, crying, and applauding. It was definitely a success.

Afterwards, the salutatorian gave her speech. Mr. Roles announced the top students and their grade point averages. He then went on to announce scholarship recipients. Now, it was time for the part the whole crowd was waiting for, the calling of the names to receive their diplomas. As class president, I was given the honor of calling off the names of my classmates. They came up, received their diploma from Mr. Roles and shook Mr. Bush’s hand. Some of my classmates broke the tradition and gave me a hug in front of almost the entire community. This is one of the most memorable moments of my high school career. At the conclusion, our class song, “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts, was played as we walked out of the gym for the final time.

This ritual is performed across the United States, as well as in many other countries with slight variations. This is the routine that is typically followed in Peck. One spontaneous event that happened was my friends and classmates hugging me. That meant so much to me, and it showed others just how close this class of ours was.

The entire front of the gymnasium was part of the performance. The stage was the central focus point for most people. It was where all of the “important” things took place. But immediately following was the graduating class. It was there that the parents and loved ones looked to see their graduate. The ceremony itself took approximately two hours, a short time in comparison to how long it took me to prepare for it. Part of the audience, specifically the students, was co-participants to the commencement ceremony. We were all in our caps and gowns, flooding the front of the gym in red and white. Everyone followed the ritual to a T, so that the ceremony ran smoothly. However, the observers, parents, faculty, family, and community members, were separated from the event.

As we said our good-byes to each other, we said good-bye to a small town that meant so much to all of us. As we faced our future, we would always remember our past, and each other. Peck, Michigan is my home town, and I’m proud to be a small town girl.