Forbush graduates are honored at a commencement ceremony held Friday at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest University campus in Winston-Salem.
Forbush High School graduates of the Class of 2022 said farewell to their high school years during a commencement ceremony held Friday at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest University campus in Winston-Salem.
Several students spoke during Friday’s ceremony including Forbush Senior Class President Jackson Gentry.
Prior to his speech, Gentry took a selfie of himself smiling from the Wait Chapel podium with his Class of 2022 classmates and guests as the backdrop, at the behest of his mom, he explained.
“The day is here, the day we’ve all been waiting for,” said Gentry. “After today, everything changes.”
Reading from a list of his fellow classmates future career goals, Gentry said, “you will be engineers, architects, accountants, etcetera.”
“What is etcetera? I don’t even know what that is. A new profession perhaps,” he joked.
On a more serious note, Gentry asked for a moment of silence for classmates Norah Smitherman and Clayton Laskus, two Forbush students who passed away.
Gentry shared memories of his friendship with Smitherman.
“We all feel her presence in this moment; we feel her strength, we feel her love, and we cherish our memories of her,” he said.
The special connection between members of the Class of 2022 is something Principal Denny Key commented on during the ceremony.
“They are not only special to me, they are special to each other,” Key said. “At no time during my education career have I witnessed a group of students that root and cheer for each other as these do. They travel to games, they attend concerts and plays, and they do all of this just to see their friends play or perform. They have endured a unique high school experience, having withstood a pandemic, tragedy, and triumph. Through it all, the bond shared amongst these students has never wavered.”
Key shared his final words of advice for Forbush’s Class of 2022, “My charge to you is simple- go and live your life to its fullest. Nothing in this life is guaranteed so seize any opportunities that present themselves, create and build experiences, and make some memories.”