Subbaculcha

A parent co-creates. A parent nurtures. A child survives childhood. And when childhood is over...?

Senioritis. A feeling of accomplishment. The red carpet awaits. The world at the doorstep.

And what does a senior get?

Recognition for participation. A flower. An announcement. A walk with one's parent(s) across a football field.

Parents get what...?

Recognition for participation? Thank goodness, yes. A feeling of accomplishment? Affirmative. The red carpet awaits? Maybe a vacuum cleaner waits to be used. The world at the doorstep? A pile of bills and a day off before the work world starts all over again.

Wins and losses fade with time. Family remains important. Like traveling all the way from Saratoga, NY, to Hazel Green, AL, to see your sister's niece as a cheerleader. Like taking pictures of your friends' son, #46 on the football team, while they travel.

Moments will stand out but the score, 14-42, will be forgotten. The rest of the school year will not wait. Friends will go hunting and fishing and dating and studying together.

As the senior year winds down, the exit gets closer, the door to adulthood opens wider and the moment of truth arrives. Soon you'll discover just how prepared you are to handle everyday life as your own parent - waking yourself up in the morning, preparing your own breakfast, making your own household budget, handling unanticipated emergency situations. The next few months make the difference between successfully leaping out of the secondary school student life and being pushed out.

One night on the football field showed you life as a game winner. Another night on the football field showed you life as a graduating senior surrounded by supportive friends and family, the game's outcome important but not critical. In other words, life, just as real as it gets.

What's the old saying? You never get time to study for life's quizzes? Life is always preparing for the wrong test? Sayings aside, your senior year is about you and about your parents/guardians. They want you to succeed in life and you want to be independent. Independence and success are linked to the social contract your parents signed when they conceived you. Society is yours and yours for the taking as long as you learn to give back.

One day (and that day is sooner than you think) you'll sit in the stands with other parents, yelling for your child who may be carrying the flag on the field, cheering on the sideline, tackling between the yard markers or performing in the band at halftime. Between now and then, the world waits to see what you have to offer. The better you prepare yourself now, the more relaxing and fun will be that day when you're the parent who's holding the flower after walking your child across the football field as a senior. It won't seem important now but it will.

So listen to yourself for a moment. Hear what you have to say. See what your parents are trying to instill in you before you graduate. You are the most important person in the world. Learn to act like you are. When you're important, so is everyone else. When everyone is important, you own the world and the world can't wait to accept you with open arms.

Your growth began when you were born and ends when you die. Make the most of your growth while you're young and have the world in your hands. We want you to succeed because we know you'll be one of us soon. Your success is our success. And soon your success will be your child's success.

A loss is never fun but we learn from the loss and move on. Tonight you were winners in the bigger picture. Take the win that is your parents' pride in seeing you reach your senior year and celebrate. This night and the rest of your senior year is a party that all your schoolmates are invited to. Make it an event no one will ever forget. You are the graduating class of 2k10! Your success begins now.