The day they had been waiting for was here — and the graduates of Whiteland Community High School were ready to move on to the next chapter of their lives.
But it wasn’t the easiest path for the class of 2022 to get to the graduation ceremony Saturday on the football field during a warm, sunny morning.
As Tara Watson, senior class president, noted during her speech to the soon-to-be graduates, almost half of their time in high school was spent amid a global pandemic.
She talked about how they spent their first year in school as freshman, trying to learn the lay of the land. By the time sophomore year rolled around, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and they were sent to continue classes from home for a semester.
When they returned their junior year, they spent much of their time going back and forth between going to class in-person and seeing their friends again one week to going back online the next.
“Although things have changed quite a bit, we adapted and overcame all of the hard times that we had to go through, and we did it together,” Watson said.
She concluded her speech quoting rapper DaBaby, telling her fellow seniors to “get your bread up” and continue to be themselves.
During the ceremony, the class remembered four students — Ryan Latham, Dakota Scott, Mason Hutchcraft and Abdulla Mubarak — who all passed away before graduation.
Four chairs were left empty and decorated with caps, flowers and photos to remember each of them. The graduates also wore ribbons and bracelets with the phrase, “you’re always loved, never forgotten, and forever missed” written on them, to carry their classmates across the stage.
Now, the graduates are moving on to the next chapter of their lives, whether that involves going to college, joining the military or joining a career elsewhere.
Emily Murray is going to attend Indiana University to study individualized majors in marine biology. She spent time taking advanced placement, or AP, classes in science to prepare for her future career.
“I’m pretty excited. I’ve kind of wanted to for a while,” Murray said. “I’ve just tried my best to stick to certain classes, and I even switched my classes in order to fit what would be best for college.”
Noah Green looks forward to attending the Naval Academy after graduating. It has been a long-time dream of his to join the Navy and become a fighter pilot, he said.
“I’ve worked hard for a lot of years. I’m just ready to move on and start my adult career,” Green said. “I took a lot of AP classes and dual credit classes, just trying to push myself. My GPA had started out pretty low and I knew I needed to get it higher.”
Valedictorian RJ McCoy is heading to Franklin College to study applied mathematics and actuarial sciences. He chose Franklin because it is close to home, and the school has a distinguised math progam.
McCoy graduated a semester early, and spent the spring relaxing before he has to head to college. During that time, as any 18-year-old would do, he said, he decided to start reading philosophical works.
He quoted Socrates during his speech to the graduating class, encouraging everyone to not hide from the truth or what they have to face in reality.
“As we embark on the next part of our lives, I encourage everyone here to stop hiding. Stop ignoring stuff, refusing your call to truth, and pursue that which will ultimately bring us inner peace,” McCoy said.
While finishing high school is a special moment in itself, graduate Ashlynn McCammon experienced another special moment when she walked across stage.
Her sister McKayla, who is in the U.S. Army, flew back to Indiana from Germany to see Ashlynn McCammon graduate. McKayla McCammon surprised her by walking on stage to give her diploma when her name was called.
