“On Graduation Day”. Mixed media including XL graphite blocks, acrylics, Neocolor II, acrylic ink, metallic paste on Canson XL – 11 x 15 inch watercolour paper.
Once again, at this time of the year, I think of all the graduation ceremonies that will be held in June. As a high school teacher, I never missed these very special events.
In the crowd, I saw all the students’ proud relatives gathered to celebrate this milestone.
I wondered about the path each student would take to find their true calling in life.
A few students would travel to Europe for a year or work to fund their studies. A wise decision for the undecided. However, most would continue their education at college or university.
Little do they know, on the day they graduate, that the years ahead of them will be the most difficult exam.
Amid the many successes of former students, I have also heard of the formidable struggles…job loss, financial failure, depression, divorce, epic battles with cancer, and lives shattered in so many ways.
Such life events break my heart. How was I to prepare any of them for these life altering occurrences?
While painting this young woman, I thought of fresh, young faces in my classroom over the years and the promise their futures held.
This one was extremely shy, that one was hoping for an Olympic medal (and did win bronze in recent winter Olympics), while another one always had a smile and a joke to tell.
Yes, even the bold and disrespectful students are remembered because I know life will have changed their adolescent ways.
One former student contacted me on Facebook 15 years after his graduation to apologise for his unruly behaviour in my classroom. Now THAT was one surprise for me!
My former students are never far from my mind. I often wonder what ever happened to???
When teachers get together, we often reminisce about our time as teachers and the students that made our careers all the more…interesting. This one pulled the fire alarm at lunch time, that one dressed up in Shakespearean garb while we toured the town of Stratford, Ontario making himself quite an attraction. Another had a beautiful voice and has had a hit song that topped the charts in Canada for a time…so many stories!
Over the years, there have been unexpected meetings in grocery stores, at the theatre, in the doctor’s office, at the hospital. And believe it or not, I met a former student in my own home when a paramedic came to get me in 2021. I broke my leg and he appeared on that Sunday to bring me by ambulance to the hospital!
…so heartwarming to meet former students as adults and to have a quick catch up chat.
In Forever a Wallflower, (March 2017) and in How do you mend a broken heart? (February 2019), I thought of the awkward moments in high school and all the students I can remember who didn’t fit in.
There are far more outcasts than you might think, especially in a city school.
And I wonder what happened to so many of them when they were called to write the most difficult exam.
If you are a former student, here is one way to reach me. I would love to hear from you, my readers, whether or not you were in my classroom. All comments are vetted by me before publication.
(Header photo taken by Brett Jordan – a copyright free photo from unsplash).
<3 You're sharing of you're beautiful artwork Louise.
Thanks Audrey. Appreciate your comment. Nice to hear from you. Cheers!
You have done a brilliant job of this beautiful girl ????????
Thank you Sally. Always trying new techniques. Keeps me young…lol!