NEWBERRY COUNTY — As the tassels were turned, 310 graduates from both Mid-Carolina High School and Newberry High School started the next chapter in their lives.
Danielle Brandon, a Mid-Carolina High School graduate herself, addressed the soon-to-be graduates about the many transitions they would soon be facing in their lives. While Brandon said none of the transitions she faced in her own life were easy, she encouraged the class of 2015 to use every opportunity presented to them. By doing so, she said, they would learn about themselves, the job they were going after, or life in general.
MCHS Valedictorian Bailey Doolittle encouraged her classmates to become a better person than they were yesterday, but not to let the fear of change pull them back.
Salutatorian Hailey Mundell told her fellow graduates that wherever they went in life, to be sure not to do it half way.
While the past was unchangeable, Mundell said, they only had the future.
Students at Newberry High School were encouraged to enjoy the new time in their lives and to not lack the courage to become who they truly were.
Salutatorian Hetal Patel said that up to this point, their goal as a class was to graduate from high school, but to be careful not to run through everything or they may miss out on the real jewels in life.
Without family, love and support, Patel said they would not have gotten to where they were today.
Valedictorian Bailey Humphries spoke of an inscription on a necklace her parents had given her.
The quote, by E.E. Cummings reads: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you truly are.”
Humphries encouraged them to be courageous and face each day as it comes, growing into who they were meant to be.