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Show ---"-----j r....r - Proud Moment (The following was written by Daryl J. McCarty, executive secretary of the Utah Education Assn., and seems appropriate during this time of year as graduation time for high school students is here) To me, a student seldom looks more appealing, or more noble, than at the moment he or she steps across some school auditorium stage to accept that long-awaited diploma. Maybe it's the solemnity of the occasion. Maybe it's those pompous caps and gowns. And perhaps it's those smiles that explode across the countenances of these young people. There are a thousand math exams behind those smiles, a hundred scraped knees from playground accidents, and at least a score of classroom romances. It's over, they think. It's finally over. Ah, what an illusion! But it's a harmless illusion-one that will be shattered too soon. It isn't over, really, as the speakers will say. It's the beginning. That's what the word "commencement" means. But it's an ending, too. And the end of anything big in a person's life inevitably brings regret. Listen, and you can hear it while the graduating seniors sing the school fight song for the very last time together. You'll forgive them, won't you, if every now and then you hear a catch in somebody's voice? And you'll forgive them also if these graduates indulge themselves in a little bit of pride for "getting there" after 12 long years. They've earned that right. |