Charles B. Aycock holds graduation ceremony
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on June 14, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Ariel Strickland and Jordan Stuber turn their tassels with the 54th graduating class of Charles B. Aycock High School.
Streamers and confetti filled the air and a huge beach ball bounced from student to student as graduates of Charles B. Aycock High School turned their tassels Saturday morning.
The graduation ceremony was held on the football field with family and friends filling the bleachers and lining the fence.
During the ceremony, valedictorian Jacob Naughton reminded his fellow classmates that they had learned a great many things over their past four years at Aycock.
"Most importantly, you have all learned a great deal about yourselves, and you have established the foundations of who you are to be in your future."
He likened preparing for a future to preparing for a battle.
"So what I will be telling you today is what qualities a good battle plan must have in order for us to succeed in creating our plan for taking on life and all its adversity," he said. "Every good battle plan has to be flexible."
Naughton said a flexible plan will allow his fellow graduates to be creative and to try new things. He said the course to the end result is never as direct and as straight as they might wish, but there will be detours, pitfalls and adventures along the way.
"However, those bumps along the way can sometimes lead us to greater levels of success than ever imagined," he said.
Salutatorian Blake Stephens told the graduating class that they were not the same people they were when they started their journey.
"We aren't even the same as we were a month ago," he said. "We are constantly changing, and that is a part of life. Change is inevitable, but personal growth is a choice."
He challenged them to enjoy the summer with their high school friends, be open to new experiences and doing things differently, try new things, make big mistakes and learn from them, be prepared for things going differently than they planned and embrace change in themselves, their friends and the world around them.
"CBA has taught us life lessons such as always showing respect and kindness, voicing our opinion and standing up for our beliefs, gaining and sharing knowledge, flying like a falcon and putting forth 100 percent effort in everything you do," Stephens said.
He left them with this thought, "Graduation is only a concept. In real life, every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference."
During commencement exercises, principal Dr. Earl Moore Jr. told the students that Aycock High School was a better place because of them.
Kayla Buenrost had a blast at her graduation ceremony, in spite of the heat.
"It was one of the best experiences ever," she said.
She said her biggest challenge during her four years at Aycock was just getting up every morning and going to school each day -- she admits she's not a morning person -- going to work after school and getting home at midnight.
"But it was worth it," she said.
One memory she will take with her and cherish always is the school's Friday night football game. Miss Buenrost said she made it to every single game.
Now that she's a high school graduate, she said she plans on becoming a vet tech and working with exotic animals at the North Carolina Zoo.
Nathan Taylor was relieved to graduate. The most challenging part of the journey for him was taking AP classes.
"Graduating is my favorite memory from high school because I'm finally done," he said.
His plan for the future is to attend Wayne Community College for a degree in welding technology.