DOBSON — Although a rain threat had prompted Surry Central High School’s commencement exercises to be moved indoors, enough rays maneuvered through the clouds to enable departing Golden Eagles to fly into a sunset toward future destinations.
Surry Central High School seniors Thursday night joined hundreds of others donning caps and gowns this week across the county. In the case of Surry Central, where the school mascot is the Golden Eagles, 142 graduates were listed.
From Kaitlyn Isabelle Absher to Kailei Aaliyah Zurita, one by one they strode across a stage in the gym, en route to new settings including college, the military and the work force.
“We are the next generation, no matter our careers,” Senior Class President Ahmed Mohamed Salim said during an address to a crowd of proud family members and friends filling nearly every square inch of bleacher space.
“I challenge you to find something you love and be good at it,” William Elijah “Eli” Scott, student body president, later told fellow graduates from the same podium — whether that is a doctor or ditch digger.
For the record, 103 Surry Central seniors — nearly three-fourths of the Class of 2024 — are headed to college, Principal Misti Holloway said in opening remarks at Thursday night’s ceremony.
Another eight will join branches of the military, while 31 plan to directly enter the working world.
“Each of you has a plan for your future,” the principal told the seniors seated in the middle of the gym, referring to how all 142 are accounted for in this regard.
While graduating classes come and go over the years and seem to be part of one big “Pomp and Circumstance” assembly line, Surry Central’s principal said this one is special.
“I feel a real connection to the Class of 2024,” Holloway said, explaining that both its and her origins at the Dobson campus date to the fall of 2020.
“We began together — you as students and me as principal.”
Overcoming turmoil
The date 2020 also is significant for another reason, as it fell firmly in the throes of the COVID pandemic that turned education upside down.
At first, the then-freshmen couldn’t even be in class together, Scott recalled concerning a reliance on online learning during that period.
The Surry Central principal also pointed out that some graduates had overcome other obstacles that could have sidelined them — yet they persevered to reach Thursday night’s shining moment.
In Eli Scott’s case, the student body president who also played football for the black and gold, told how he broke his leg last season in a game against eventual state champion Mount Airy.
The principal said something that is unique about this year’s seniors — based on individual interactions and videos capturing their thoughts — is an overall sense of gratefulness they have for parents and others whose support and encouragement got them through such crises.
Scott has overcome the injury and will continue his education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to major in political science.
Salim, the senior class president, has faced his own challenges during an academic career that will be furthered at Norwich University/The Military College of Vermont.
He plans to major in political science on the way to becoming an officer in the U.S. Air Force with the help of ROTC training.
Yet Salim had to overcome doubts, including once being advised by someone close to his family when outlining his plans to fly planes that this was an unrealistic dream.
“It was something I needed to hear,” the student admitted, indicating that such discouraging remarks can provide extra motivation.
Not that there haven’t been mistakes along the way.
“We all make mistakes,” Salim said.
“But with every mistake a lesson was learned,” he added in appealing to fellow grads. “Don’t let making a mistake discourage you.”
No matter where they go in life from here on out, one thing the 142 graduates will always have in common is their experience at Surry Central High School, which was emphasized Thursday night.
“I am so proud to call myself a Golden Eagle,” said Scott.
Most Popular
Comments / 0