Hard work pays off

• Simone Wichers-Voss / Chisholm Country magazine Clifton High School 2024 graduating class sing their school’s song at the Clifton High School Commencement Ceremonies, Friday, May 24.
• Simone Wichers-Voss / Chisholm Country magazine Clifton High School 2024 Valedictorian Erica Li and Salutatorian Brianna González celebrate after the Clifton High School commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 24. They will both be attending the University of Texas, Austin in the fall.

Simone Wichers-Voss

Chisholm Country Magazine

The humidity was bad enough to frizz any carefully straightened hairdo, or uncurl any carefully curled ‘do for that matter. And anyone wearing a jacket or robe was surely miserably hot. But that did not keep all those present – many wearing the school’s color green – at the Clifton High School 2024 commencement ceremony Friday, May 24, at the Cub Stadium from smiling with pride and enjoying all the pomp and circumstance.

A nice air-conditioned gym would have been nice, but the high school gym is just not big enough to hold all the family and well-wishers on this very special occasion for the 66 graduating students. The stands at the football stadium were filled to the brim.

This graduation officially ended a very successful year for Clifton High School, with students qualifying for state finals in band, athletics, and academics.

Of this 2024 group of graduates, 34 are honor students wearing a gold chord over their robes showing they earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher; and all of the graduating students stood to show they were accepted into a college or school for higher education. Two young men signed up to join the United States military. Other pursuits, as diverse as the graduating class, included nursing and other medical careers, journalism, communication and videography, business administration and economics, education, aircraft and car mechanics, theatre related careers, electrical related careers, welding, construction, sports related careers, biology, criminal justice, law enforcement and first responders, political science, robotics, computer science and technology, sociology, and psychology.

While some schools make a habit of elaborately decorating their graduation caps, at CHS students proudly display the different clubs they were a part of through medals, sashes, and cords around their necks.

CHS Assistant Principal Rusty Trammell explained the different cords and sashes, like the blood donor cord, the National Honor Society bib, Future Farmers of America related cords and sashes, Band members and Family, Career and Community Leaders of America to name a few. Additionally, the entire senior class and staff wore orange ribbons in support, hope, and love for their classmate Connor because of his father Leonard's ongoing fight against stage four renal cancer.

“Their fight is our fight,” Trammell said of the CHS alumni, Leonard and his wife Misty.

No graduation ceremony is complete without the speeches by the class’ valedictorian and salutatorian. More often than not, the speeches are about challenges and triumphs, staying determined, being proud of your achievements and being confident when taking the next steps in life as a young adult.

Erica Li received the honor of being the 2024 class valedictorian – the senior with the highest grade average at the end of the third quarter their senior year. The senior with the second highest grade average Brianna González was this year’s salutatorian. And both showed higher academic achievements throughout their high school years. These distinctions often allow for special scholarships and automatic college admissions.

Li and González celebrated their cultural backgrounds with anecdotes about their families, recognizing their importance and thanking them for their support and love; and they shared some unforgettable school memories. Besides the general ups and downs of adolescence, this group of graduates contended with the extra challenge of COVID-19 pandemic lock down conditions for the bigger part of their high school careers, testing their resilience and dedication, teaching them to overcome adversity and the value of perseverance. And as for all graduates, they learned that hard work, dedication, sacrifice and effort pays off in the end. Growing and learning together forged lifelong friendships, and along the way, the students made unforgettable memories.

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” González said quoting Theodore Roosevelt. “Although the awards and titles received in high school were great, and we worked hard to earn them, 10 years from now very few will remember what award or title we received. With time the recognitions will fade, but the memories with classmates will not.”

Being a small town, and a small school, many students grew up together, knowing each and every other graduate, some since Kindergarten. Coming from a closeknit community, lasting, life-long friendships are certainly among the possibilities. Both Li and González will continue their friendship while attending the University of Texas, Austin in the fall.

“Take time to enjoy the journey, not just the awards,” González said. “Stop the comparisons to others and learn from the hard times and your mistakes. Most importantly though, work hard and stay positive, even when it feels impossible. And don’t be afraid of failure. Take chances.”

At the age of six, the Li family moved to Clifton from China. In spite of not knowing any English at the time, she felt they were welcomed by the community; a community where she could learn, grow, and thrive.

She remembered stepping into a pep rally on her first day of middle school, hearing then Middle School Principal Andy Ball yell, “Hard Work,” and the students yelling back, “Pays Off.” Those words, simple yet profound, inspired her throughout her time at school. Li expressed the wish that if the audience at the graduation would remember anything from her speech, that it would be those words “Hard work pays off.”

“Class of 2024, my hope for each one of you, is to always stay persistent in pursuing your dreams and goals,” Li said. “As we face the challenges life has, let’s face them with determination and resilience, knowing with that we can overcome adversity.”

González and Li wished everyone – as they all go their separate ways, either entering college or the workforce or for some serving in the military – good luck in their new chapter of life.

Now Clifton Independent School District Superintendent Andy Ball witnessed many graduations in his years as an administrator. With his daughter Riley graduating, this year became personal. He is grateful his children can call Clifton their hometown and hope they will relate to John Mellencamp’s song “Small Town” like he does, with the lyrics: “No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from. I cannot forget the people who love me. Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town, and people let me be just what I want to be.”

Life is full of transitions, and for this group of high school students, graduating from the school they often attended since Kindergarten is a big step towards adulthood, independence and responsibility. Some will look back at high school as the best years of their lives, while others look forward to college, subsequent careers and starting families of their own. And anyone at Cub Stadium Friday night wished all of the graduates the very best in this new chapter of their lives, this new beginning.