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For Washington grads, the long wait is over
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WASHINGTON — Whether for Zoom connections, assignment grades, or adult life in general, the Washington High School Class of 2025 is done waiting.
That was the tone of the school’s commencement Sunday afternoon, where graduating speakers focused not only on the shared events that tied their academic careers together, but on the way they experienced those events in the moments they happened.
Lauren Horak, the first of three seniors to speak at the graduation ceremony, characterized the class’ collective past as a lengthy waiting game.
“When I first sat down to write this, all I could think about was how long I had been waiting for this moment, for the day we finally made it,” she said. “So much of our lives have been spent waiting. In fact, this whole journey has been one long, weird, unforgettable wait … For the first time, we are no longer waiting for the same thing. Each of us is headed in a different direction, chasing a different dream.”
Seniors characterized the wait in a variety of ways. Horak’s speech focused on the sense of anticipation heading into first days of school, or frustration with internet connections during months of online education.
For graduating senior Frida Romero Ramirez, who said she overcame a language barrier after moving to Washington, high school was an ordeal requiring exceptional patience, both from herself and others.
“From the very first moment I walked through the school doors, there was already a place for me,” she said. “Like many of you, I have had my emotional lows, but I have also had someone there to help me through them — especially the unconditional support of my teachers, who saw beyond my language barrier and pushed me to keep going.”
As the graduates pivot their focus away from the past, they turn now to the future. And while she encouraged her peers to learn from so much waiting, Isabella Lujan’s address also took on a temporal theme as she urged her classmates to rise to whatever challenges come next.
“Today is certainly one of the biggest days of transition in our lives,” she said. “We are no longer the future of the world; we are the present. Soak that in.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
