| graduation |
words & photography by Davis Cobb
Tift High Class of 2022 graduates
The end of the 2021- 22 school year opens a new chapter in the lives of the seniors of Tift County High School , but before that chapter could begin , Tift County Schools ensured they were given a proper sendoff .
TCHS Class of 2022 held its graduation ceremony at Brodie Field May 21 , where they were not only reminded of their four years of hard work , successes and failures , and the time they spent together , but encouraged to look toward the future and step into the next stage of their lives one last time as a single student body .
Stadium seating was overflowing with family , friends and loved ones ecstatic to see each and every student participating in the ceremony , and as the graduates filed onto the field , the crowd was abuzz with excitement for the ceremony to come .
After a presentation of colors by the Georgia 51st AFJROTC , graduate Emma Mendieta sang the national anthem to mark the start of the ceremony .
The mic was then handed to Michal Gregus and Benjamin Wilson , the TCHS students given the designation of STAR students by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators , who jointly delivered an inspirational address to their fellow graduates .
Touching briefly on their last four years together as a student body , the pair strongly encouraged their classmates not to hope – not because hoping is detrimental but because it is better to have faith .
“ Hoping for something is acknowledging that you don ’ t have what you desire ,” Wilson said .
“ On the flip side ,” Gregus continued . “ Faith is the belief that those same desires can and will be fulfilled . When you are busy hoping for something , all you can think about is how badly you want it and how you don ’ t have it . But when you have faith and put in the necessary work , then you have nothing to worry about .”
The pair urged the graduates to accept that they are not perfect but to have faith that every decision they had made , right or wrong , had led them to the path they were on today . Moving forward , they should have the confidence and faith to try , persist and even fail .
Following them , class salutatorian Erynn Allison addressed the student body , starting her speech with an anecdote about a rundown dish she had found in a secondhand store carrying the message , “ Be obsessively thankful ,” a message Allison strives to follow in her daily life .
Allison said the dish had constantly reminded her to be obsessively thankful for the people and things that surround her and had provided her with the opportunities she had been given , and encouraged her fellow graduates to do the same .
However , she stressed this gratitude be shown not only to their friends and family , but their teachers , fellow students and everyone who had touched their lives , not only on the day of their graduation , but every day they could .
Finally , valedictorian Hannah Walker took the stage to speak to her peers , admitting in her speech that up until just a few weeks prior , she had still felt uncertain about leaving Tifton and TCHS behind .
26 TiftonScene | JULY 2022