Graduation Day

 

Anna is officially a James Madison High School graduate!  The ceremony for the 537 graduates was held Tuesday, June 4 at DAR Constitution Hall in DC.  Grandma and Grandpa made the trip from Ohio along with Uncle Time and Cousin Aidyn for the festivities.  It was a whirlwind week with lots of celebrations, rehearsals, and final activities for school.  Check out the Graduation Photos.  Some of the most memorable moments included:

• Grandma and Grandpa making their first visit (and flight) since 2018.
• Hosting a small celebration for Anna on Monday, June 5 after the Ohio family arrived.  The party was to start at 5 PM.  On Sunday night at 10 PM was the realization that Anna was supposed to sing with the choir on Monday at 6 PM for the baccalaureate ceremony in Vienna.  This resulted in Anna missing part of her own party as she did not return home until 7:25. On the plus side, it was great to see other friends and neighbors, including Ms. Be and Mr. Fancy of Anna's daycare days! 
• The trip to DAR Constitution Hall for the actual ceremony was stressful as it involved commuting into DC during rush hour.  Anna needed to be there early for choir rehearsal and took the train in (she had the best commute of everyone).  When the family finally arrived, there were 4,000 people trying to get in for the ceremony.  Then there was parking....it was chaotic.
• Grandpa's cell phone going off during the national anthem (which Anna was singing as part of her choir ensemble).  Fortunately, Aidyn came to the rescue and reached into Grandpa's pocket to quickly silence it.
• 
  The all-night grad party, sponsored by the PTA, at the Vienna Community Center.  This featured a casino, inflatable obstacle course, dancing, a magic show, palm reading, a big raffle, lots of food and more.  Theresa volunteered for a 2-hour shift that turned into a 5-hour shift after other parents did not show up.  Anna had a good time and barely noticed her mom was there.  After arriving home at 5:30 AM, Anna grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading to work at 9 AM.  She then came home at 2 for a short nap before heading to her second job at 4:30 (on the plus side it was a John Legend concert, which was good).

Anna's last assignment for English class was to write a speech for graduation.  Students had to present it to the class.  After hearing Anna's, her teacher recommended she submit it to the competition to be selected as the student speaker, which she did.  Below is Anna's submission.  Enjoy!

Hello class of 2024, and congratulations! I don’t know about y’all right now, but this entire day has felt like a bit of a dream. I’ve been waiting for this day to come since elementary school, when I first realized what being a senior meant. At the time though, I wasn’t watching high school seniors graduate, but 8th graders. I went to a private catholic school from preschool to 8th grade, and almost the entire time I was there, I always idolized the 8th graders. I used to think that that was it. They were the epitome of adulthood. As I’ve grown up though, I’ve realized that the world views of a 3rd grader aren’t really rock-solid. Once I finally got to 8th grade, I realized that they aren’t really that great. They’re still just kids, just with special t-shirt privileges. I had spent so many years looking forward to becoming an 8th grader so I would be taken seriously, but when the time finally came, it slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

As an only child, I didn’t have any siblings to look up to. The closest thing I had to a sibling was an old white dog that woke everyone up at 3 in the morning for absolutely no reason. And I personally feel like it would be a bit of a psychological concern if that was my role model in life. As I’ve grown up, I’ve found that I rely less and less on role models. Sure, it’s good to have goals and guidelines to steer you when you’re young, but I think it’s a bit more exciting to find your own way. Even if it didn’t really make sense to outsiders, I knew how to figure things out my own way. Would it be easier to do some things the “traditional” way? Maybe, I don’t know. But I’ve also grown up with the notion that I can do anything myself and do it better. Now that didn’t always work out well for me, but I like to think that it built

Senior Choir Members

character. It’s kind of like martial arts. One of the first things you learn is how to fall correctly so that you don’t get hurt. Now I’ve fallen a lot, both physically and metaphorically, and I did get hurt the first couple times, but those experiences taught me how to fall correctly. As I fell again and again, I got really really good at picking myself back up and trying again a different way. And if it didn’t work, I’d just do it all again.

Historically, I haven’t always done the best in school. In elementary school I was too focused on the latest fantasy novel to bother paying attention in class, and I just wasn’t very good at turning in my assignments. The confusing part about this was that I was doing the assignments, just not turning them in. I don’t even think that I can defend myself anymore, it makes no sense. This was a pattern I struggled with for the rest of elementary school and the majority of middle school. Towards the end of middle school though, things started to work out a bit better. I was doing my assignments AND turning them in, I was starting to pay attention more, probably because I’d already read all of the interesting books in the school library by that point. Everything was going so well. And this is where you’ll notice, dear class of 2024, that I said that everything WAS going so well. Yeah, there’s a bit of a plot twist here that I’m sure some of you already figured out. It was around this time that everything was going smoothly that a little something called COVID-19 crash landed in the US. All of a sudden, we were all getting sent home for a two-week vacation, that turned into a month-long vacation, that turned into a 3-month vacation, and then turned into actual summer vacation but oh yea, just don’t go doing anything. 

Ms. Be, Mr. Fancy, Tuk & Grandpa

I think I speak for everyone in this class when I say that covid was the weirdest, most challenging curveball that could have ever been thrown at us. Not only did we have to start high school behind a screen, we had to stay that way for almost a year and a half. And even when we could go in person again, we could only see half a face in the hallways. Not exactly the best learning environment, but we made it work. It is my opinion that because of the covid-19 experience, we have become one of the most resilient classes to ever graduate from James Madison High School. We struggled together, shared the same pains, and because of that, we learned to adapt and roll with the punches. No other high school class has had the same experiences as us, and I urge you to use those differences as your strengths. I shared some of my stories with you today so you could see a glimpse of my life and how I struggled through school, and I’d be lying if I said I was doing phenomenal now, but that’s the point. You don’t have to have the best grades to graduate. You don’t need to go to the best college to get a job. You don’t need to get a good job to be happy, and you certainly don’t need to succeed at everything. Not even a perfect person can do that. Because as Ralph Waldo-Emerson said: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” So, I hope that once you leave these doors and say your goodbyes, you look towards the future at all the great things you have yet to accomplish. And you shouldn’t worry about messing it up or falling down, just as long as you know how to fall correctly. Congratulations everyone.

Aidyn & Anna

Anna & Aidan (friends since infants)