The high school graduations in Fairfield were held on Thursday.
As you can assume, I was at the Ludlowe for their ceremony. (Wouldn't it be great if they weren't at the same exact time. I know that won't happen. The only time that happened were the COVID graduations at the beach.)
With that being said, congratulations to everyone at Warde as well who graduated. This is a class, especially the baseball seniors, who I have gotten to know decently well. I'll never know the Warde students, especially the baseball players, as well as I do the Ludlowe students. It's just the way it is. That's not to take anything away from the Warde people.
As for the ceremony at Ludlowe, it went well, in my opinion.
It was different because of the setup of the stage and the field. The stage was closer to the parents and families and the staff and faculty were faced in the opposite direction as we have been in the past.
I've made it very clear on social media and on previous blog posts how special this Ludlowe class is for me. It's the baseball seniors, the basketball seniors and so many others. Obviously, mostly athletes, but even some non-athletes.
I know I've used the word "special" to describe other classes throughout the years. Each one is special in a different way.
I realize I am saying a lot of what I have said and am saying I said in my posts about the Ludlowe basketball and baseball seasons, but it extends beyond just those guys.
It's just so many great kids. Respectful, caring young men and women.
A lot of the students who I have gotten to know just from their high school time, but many I have known before they were in high school. With the number of years I was a camp counselor, there are so many kids every year who I had as campers when they were younger. It's awesome to watch them grow as people.
Even those who I have only known in high school, friendships and bonds developed that will last a lifetime.
As much as I want to give shoutouts, there are just too many people to name, and I don't want to leave anyone out.
It's also the parents and families. We get to know so many of the parents and siblings and they are terrific. Some of them help out with events, and others we just talk to at games and other events.
Then it's The Nest leaders, Scotty, Stuart, Freddy, Kiera, Katherine and Kayleigh. They had to not only lead the student section but deal with me asking them to post things and get information out about games, fan buses and things like that all year long.
To this group as a whole, you have been through a lot. Coming in as freshman in the fall of 2020 having to wear masks as we were still in a pandemic, changes and losses of teachers and coaches, personal issues, some more documented than others and so much more.
As was mentioned in one of the speeches at graduation, everyone's path isn't always a straight line. There are ups and downs. It's not about how you got to the finish line, it's that you persevered and got there.
You are a resilient, caring group of individuals.
Because of this, and so much more, you will go on and do great things in life.
I probably rambled a little too much here, but I felt like I needed to note this class.
Such special individuals that make up a special group.
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