Eighteen-year-old Joelle Poe always considered herself to be in the younger classes, then it hit her.
"It doesn’t feel like we’re old enough to graduate. Now it’s about us. It’s a shocking experience," Poe said Saturday after Broad Run High School’s graduation ceremonies for 326 graduates, adding, "I’m excited about being able to make new memories with different people and at different places."
Jamie Warren, who is 17, used similar words to describe her experience. "It’s exciting but kind of shocking because the four years went by so fast."
BROAD RUN principal Edgar Markley introduced class valedictorian Ryan Scofield, mentioning that the top academic student, the Student Council Association president, the president of the National Honor Society, the winner of the Faculty Scholarship and any other student can be selected by committee to give the senior address, but Scofield happened to be all of those things. "I could go on," Markley said about Scofield, or "Mr. Broad Run," as he called him.
Scofield said he and his classmates walked in to Broad Run in 1999 as "obnoxious children" and are leaving as capable adults. "This ceremony marks the end of this stage of our development," he said. "Four years ago, this day seemed so far away, but now it's here. And as we prepare to move on to the next chapter of our lives, we must not forget what our time together has meant to our growth."
Scofield said he and his classmates have grown older and taller. "Many of us look different. We’ve grown up," he said. "Whether you believe in fate or not, we've all come together by some coincidence, and we've all played a significant role in each other's development."
COMMENCEMENT speaker Penny Shaffer, AT&T business vice-president, America's region, described the growing up process using the notion of keys, a symbol of respect and trust. Parents first give their children a copy of the house key, then as the children grow older, they receive from others the keys to an apartment, their first home, their office and maybe their own business. These keys are objects, but there is a second key.
Shaffer told the student they hold the key to making decisions of "critical importance" to the paths of their lives and that 10 percent of what they will face in life will be doled to them and the rest will be how they react. "When you leave here today, there will be thousands of others who have the same dreams, the same ambitions, who will have the same interests in doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life," she said to the graduates attending the afternoon ceremonies at George Mason University's Patriot Center. "So use your keys well."
Graduate Matthew Sieh, 18, said, "It feel good finally to be out of school and to know I’m going on to a bigger and better place."
"We waited impatiently for this day," Poe said.
The day was the 34th graduation ceremony for Broad Run. The class of 2003 earned more than $650,000 in scholarships with 89 percent of students planning on attending college.