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Honor graduate speaker Reagan Bunch addresses her classmates during graduation on Friday, June 4 at Hayesville High School.
The Class of 2021 heard a recurring and powerful theme during their final moments at Hayesville High School: be the author of your own great life story.
Eighty-three graduates received that challenge as they were honored for their academic achievements and presented with their high school diplomas during graduation on Friday, June 4 in Hayesville.
“This class is truly college and career ready,” Superintendent Dale Cole said. “That’s a tribute to their families, their extended families, the support this community provides and the staff that’s sitting over here tonight. I challenge you to live a life of integrity and happiness that is worthy of what you’ve been taught.”
Cole commended the class for earning a total of $1.6 million in scholarships, numerous job certifications through the career technical education program and 11 Associate In Arts degrees. He also applauded the character of the students and thanked the community for its patience during a school year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cole encouraged the class to practice successful life habits such as being proactive instead of reactive, tackling challenges with an end goal in mind and prioritizing aspects of their lives with the understanding that there will never be enough time or money to do everything at once. He also challenged them to “live a great story,” which echoed the words of honor graduate speaker Reagan Bunch.
“As we walk away, the fraction of our lives spent on this campus will begin to shrink and we will continue to write the stories of our own lives, knowing fully that the first chapter was written here,” Bunch said. “As you each write your stories, I encourage you to reflect on the ones written before. The stories of the lives of the generations whose lives have shaped our own.”
Bunch’s message centered on her own grandfather, Robert Woodard, who was born in 1931 and served in the Korean War. He returned home from the war to a failed marriage that quickly ended in divorce.
After graduating from Florida State University in 1956, Woodard hitchhiked across the country to California to reunite with a young woman he’d met in Florida. They eventually married and had two children and five grandchildren, including Bunch.
Bunch said her grandfather later struggled with alcoholism, which grew worse as he approached retirement. A heart-to-heart conversation with his young adult daughter finally convinced him that if he did not stop drinking, he would likely never live to meet his grandchildren.
Bunch told her fellow graduates that their own lives will be filled with a mix of moments like those her grandfather has faced, from joyous occasions like graduation day to hard days at other times. But when someone is the author of their own story, they have the power to write exciting new chapters — and maybe even a happy ending.
“My grandfather never took another sip of alcohol because he wanted to meet me and my siblings,” Bunch said. “At the age of 90, he is here today. He did not just get to meet me, he is getting to watch me pen my own life story.
“Go forth, Class of 2021 and write a bestseller.”