Two down ... only twenty three to go!

Today was graduation day. For the second time in my teaching career, I wore a long black gown and a fake master's hood while sitting in front of 700 people and pretended to pay attention to the speakers. The best part was watching my own students achieve this huge milestone (although I've only taught about 45 seniors over the last two years) . The girl that coughed to cover her cellphone graduated, as did half of my flagline. Backstage, I was grabbing kids for hugs and wishing them success. It was definitely a starfish moment.

Hubster didn't know what I meant by a starfish moment, when we talked about this over Blizzards from DQ later this afternoon. Have you ever heard of that story? The one where a guy is standing on a beach covered with hundreds of starfish and he's throwing them back into the surf one at a time. A stranger walks up to tell him that the tide is receding and he'll never be able to save them all. The sheer number of starfish is overwhelming. The man looks at the stranger calmly, bends down to pick up another one and smoothly tosses it back in the water. "I made a difference to that one," he gently replies.

Of course, like every year, there was at least one heartbroken student who didn't make the list. I didn't see him at the ceremony, and it was very disheartening because I know he's worked really hard to graduate this year. I hope that although he didn't officially graduate, he will take the energy he's invested in the last year and apply that same attitude towards being successful in life. He has a lot of potential.

I hope I made a difference in the lives of a a few of the kids walking across the stage today. I know they've each impacted me. This year has taught me so much about teaching. I can't imagine what next year will bring!