Everyone was teasing Rose McCoy about the giant fantasy novel she was graduating to, during University High School’s 98th commencement Friday night.
Not that she was being disrespectful, mind you.
She just wanted something to read.
“This should get me through,” the outgoing senior joked, as she tucked the thick book under her gown. “It’s going to be a long ceremony.”
That’s because there were a lot of seniors going forth in the Class of 2024. A total of 322 of them, to be exact.
Under mellow skies at Mylan Pharmaceuticals Stadium, the soon-to-be alumni filed onto the turf and found their seats at the 50-yard line — while the capacity crowd in the stands whooped and cheered.
Those spotty showers weather forecasters were calling for had held off by the time the University High Band launched into “Pomp and Circumstance.”
There was plenty of latter, as the seniors found themselves stars of the evening at the school that was becoming their alma mater by the minute.
“Where’s my diploma?” another senior asked. “I’m ready.”
If it had been a sporting contest, Principal Kim Greene said, everyone would have been all-stars.
The principal said she appreciated the camaraderie and general friendships forged by the class in four years at UHS.
And that, she added, was achieved even in the face of the past pandemic and the class’s involuntary sojourn as distance-learners, wrought by COVID.
“I’m filled with pride and gratitude for each and every one of you,” she said.
Class president Addison Spain then took the podium to talk about what might be in the future Hawk flight path for the class.
Be measured, she said. But don’t be afraid to give yourself a chance, either.
“Never let your fears hold you back,” she said.
Rose, as it turned out, had already taken her up on that.
This spring, she launched an extensive study on waste generated by the school cafeteria by way of non-reusable plastic containers — and presented her findings to the Monongalia County Board of Education members and the district’s Nutrition office.
Both entities said she had ideas worth implementing.
While she might consider such environmental-themed endeavors as her future career, she said, right now she’ll test the waters with a gap year before college.
“I’m going to see what happens,” she said.
Ethan Stevens, meanwhile, said he knows what he wants to happen after high school.
The future music major is planning on making a spectacle of himself — in the City That Never Sleeps.
“I want to be on Broadway,” he said. “I’ve got big dreams.”
