week 9 Prompt 41

She walks into the gymnasium, but it doesn't look the same. This time it is different; it is different because she is graduating today. The gym is filled to the brim with people on either side, the people are sitting on each others laps in the bleachers and the temperature has to be at least 100 degrees. Today she's not going to gym class, or going to play in one of her basketball games. She is looking a the room and the school in a different light, with a different state of mind now that she is moving on.

She and the classmates around her round the corner of the bleachers preparing to take their seats to listen to the countless speeches and awards that await them. After that time had passed, the diploma's were to be passed out. She waited for her rows que to get up and start walking up towards the make-shift stage in the middle of the gym. There she was, a 18 years old sweet heart with big dreams of college and a life of her own. She's already accomplished so much, yet there is so much more she hadn't experienced yet. As she marches to the beat up to her mark at the edge of the gym floor, the crowd in front and behind her cheering for her classmates in line in front of her that walk up on stage to receive their diploma. Each person makes their way up the three steps to the stage. They shake 2 or 3 hands, maybe get a hug and then its the big moment they have been waiting for since their first day of school. She and every other student anticipating that one special moment where they are handed their diploma symbolizing their hard work in high school paying off. Afterward they motioned to turn to the man holding the camera standing on the side of the stage, and shake the hand of the principle who most have probably never ever spoken to. As they exchange congratulations and thank yous she can her the hooting and cheering from her friends and family. While she walks down the steps on the other side of the stage, diploma in hand she looks up into the crowd to find her family to see their smiling happy faces. This is such a big moment in her life and so many people were there celebrating her accomplishment. The person she was, the person she's become, and the person she will be in the future are all lingering before her. In this moment she knows exactly who she is, what she likes and doesn't, what she's skilled at and all of her success' and failures; she's set goals for herself. Her experiences flash in her mind as she looks back on her 18 short years, and looks forward to what she'll do with the years ahead. She waves to her family and loops back around the back of the stage and marches in time back to her seat.