Keep that thankful, supportive spirit up

Graduation is right around the corner, and high school seniors are getting ready to step out into this big world.

When you leave high school, you look forward to all the opportunities that are available to you, all the possibilities life has for you.

When you leave high school, there is a sense of freedom and responsibility that comes upon you, getting you ready to start making more and more decisions for yourself.

When you leave high school, you may also feel like you should leave all of who you were in high school behind. If you’re going away to college, you can be anyone. If you go to work, you can be someone new.

That’s fine. You can get ready to experience life after high school, and those experiences will lead you to find out who you are and who you can be.

There are some things, though, I ask that you don’t leave behind when you leave high school. That is your sense of support for one another and your thankfulness.

I’m going to put a caveat here for all our readers that I am going to pull from my experience covering Daleville events. Those events are what I’ve seen and what I’ll write about. This does not mean that all of our area high school students do not do show the same support I will be talking about.

Now, I’ve recently covered several awards events for Daleville High School students in JROTC and the band. What I saw there, as an outsider with no kids involved with either organization, was amazing.

Throughout either event, when any award would be called, there would be jubilation from the other students, and I am serious when I use that word. There would be clapping, yelling, smiles, laughter and chants of praise for those receiving an award.

This did not just happen when a senior received an award either. Especially during the band awards event, when the younger students received anything, their bandmates were just as loud to celebrate their accomplishments.

During both the JROTC and band events, you could also tell who the leaders were, and not only because they were given any kind of leadership award.

When next year’s group of JROTC leaders were announced, the entire battalion shouted for their classmates. They were clearly happy for those who were chosen, and I would imagine, based on their response, that they are happy to follow them, too.

Of course, those students who were recognized were also thankful. I know this because smiles never dropped from their faces. There were even a few tears when new ranks were placed on those who will lead the Warhawk Battalion next year.

Even at the band banquet, when those who were leaders this school year were recognized, receiving prestigious DHS band awards, tears fell from a few eyes. When there weren’t tears, there were smiles and plenty of thank yous to band parents, band directors and others. When next year’s leadership was named, their bandmates were just as eager to celebrate.

I don’t know if my descriptions are getting the point across, but I just want to illustrate just how amazing it was to see genuine support for others and genuine thankfulness.

That is not something you see every day, that support for a person’s great accomplishments. I also don’t see genuine thankfulness much, which saddens me. We could use little more of both in this world.

For those students who are sticking around for a year or two or more, you don’t forget these things either. The more you practice thankfulness and support now, the easier it is to do when you get older.

For high school seniors who are graduating, don’t forget these things. Don’t forget to be genuinely thankful and don’t forget to be supportive of those around you who do great things, whether you stay close to home or head off on new adventures.

Cassie Gibbs is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].