Those leaving Rosewood pass the test
By Matt Caulder
Published in News on June 9, 2013 1:50 AM
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Nathan Tubb and Jose Mendoza put their diplomas into a leather holder after graduation at Rosewood High School Friday.
Rosewood High School graduates celebrated the end of their years as Eagles on Friday night as they stood on stage, preparing to soar on to life's next challenges.
Despite the rain from Tropical Storm Andrea forcing ceremonies indoors, the 127 graduates were happy to be sharing the occasion with friends, family and classmates they hope to see again.
Class of 2013 salutatorian Patience Hill told her fellow graduates she usually ended a school year by looking back on the year in her yearbook, but that this year she was looking back at her whole time at Rosewood High.
She shared laughs and inside jokes about pranks, changing desks behind a teacher's back in class or singing "We Are Young" by the band fun. during class. And she ended her speech with a line familiar to her fellow graduates, "We started from the bottom, now we're here."
Kelly Keen, 2013 valedictorian, quoted former President John F. Kennedy during her address saying, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
Miss Keen said that the quote was a "perfect compact version" of her speech.
She reminded them of the past, specifically about being in the eighth grade.
"This was the awkward stage," said Miss Keen. "Boys got taller... and cuter and girls got curvier."
She left the graduates not with a call to action, but just a reminder to remember that, "The past is your teacher, the present is the test, and the future the result."
What that future holds, though, is almost as diverse as the graduating class itself, with each member looking forward to his or her own set of plans.
Diana Smith is going to East Carolina University to pursue her studies in genetic engineering in the fall.
"I'm absolutely ready to be done," said Miss Smith. "I'm gonna spend the summer partying it up and then head to school."
Jessica Sexton also is going to ECU in, but to study nursing and will work through the summer at Bojangles before starting school in Greenville in the fall.
"I'm so ready to be done with school," said Camron Smith. "I'm gonna work a year then go to Wayne Community College for heating and air."
Jason Hilbert wants to get into ECU's wind ensemble and play shows with the United Service Organizations band.
"I'm going to Wayne Community College for two years then from there I have no idea," said Beth Dill.