Pomp, Circumstance, and Swing

Last night was the official end of Daniel’s high school career, although to be completely honest, the concert last week felt far more like an official end than yesterday’s graduation. If nothing else, it was a far more emotional moment for me than last night was. Nevertheless, graduation was yesterday evening and despite our fears that it would be a four-hour event (900 graduating seniors!), it lasted just two hours and only about 40 minutes of that was the reading of all the names. They had it all worked out to run as quickly as possible.

The program was pretty standard: speakers from the high school admin, the district, the student body, etc. In addition, the chamber choir sang a couple of numbers and the jazz band played. I can honestly say that their portion was the highlight of the program. They played a jazz arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue” which meant that Daniel once again played the beginning notes and subsequently got the raucous first applause. He switched from his clarinet to his saxophone for the remainder of the piece and looked like he was having the time of his life. The audience responded really well to the music and was clapping, dancing and generally cheering them on. I suspect it was a very heady feeling to have an entire arena full of people cheering for you. When the band finished the number, Daniel was beaming. It was a fantastic last performance of high school.

On the way home, Kev asked me how I was doing seeing as I am now the mother of a high school graduate. Honestly, it doesn’t seem real yet. I don’t think it will feel real until we get the mission call and start prepping for that or until everyone else goes back to school and he doesn’t. For now, it’s just like he’s out for the summer. Yes, I know reality is bound to come crashing down on me at some point, but for now I’m perfectly content to feel like nothing has changed.

I’m so proud of how hard Daniel has worked throughout all his schooling to this point. We’ve never needed to nag him about doing his homework or have a come to Jesus talk about how he wasn’t giving it his best effort. I know it is a blessing to have children that love learning and therefore enjoy school. I’m enormously grateful that all my children fall into that category. When Daniel was a sophomore in high school, one of his teachers actually sent me an email thanking me for having a kid who worked hard for his ‘A’ rather than one who expected something for nothing. That attitude will take him far. It has already worked to his benefit. Not only is he graduating with a 3.997 GPA, he has been accepted into the engineering program at Utah State University and plans to major in aerospace engineering. He has a four semester 90% tuition academic scholarship and another smaller music scholarship that comes with a stipend for participating in the marching band. There are several professors in the music department who are trying to woo him into being a music major based on his auditions for music scholarships and the fact that he is equally skilled in two instruments (he’s thinking about a music minor). He has a lot to look forward to.

Daniel is stepping off into the next part of his life. None of us know exactly where he will end up. But no matter where his path leads him, I suspect he will continue to work just as hard and show just as much dedication as he has up to this point.