It was all smiles and applause, celebrations and farewells, as Durant High School held the annual senior graduation ceremony May 24 at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

This year’s senior class of more than 500 students walked across the stage that night to receive their diplomas, bringing a successful finale to their high school career. The crowd was filled with thousands of family members and friends to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Upon entering the building, attendees were welcomed with Junior Council volunteers who were passing out programs for the graduation. While friends and family members were finding their seats, the soon to be 2022 graduates were getting ready to walk out and be seated for the ceremony. Once the seniors were announced, they began to walk out while being cheered on by their loved ones.

Senior Class President, Tamia Williams, began the graduation ceremony with a welcome speech followed by Barrett Farrell, senior class vice president, leading the pledge. Valedictorian Ashley Irovando and Salutatorian Allie Sigl gave their parting speeches to their class and audience to resounding applause.

When questioned, several students said they were sad to leave Durant and the fact of having graduated didn’t seem real. “It was like a fever dream, like it didn’t happen at all,” said graduate Kaylee Carr.

Others said they couldn’t believe that graduation had finally come and gone after 12 years of schooling but were proud to be done with something so significant and monumental. Graduate Menna Abd-Elrahman said, “It felt extremely surreal but was an amazing feeling of accomplishment.”

Now that the ceremony has ended and they are finally done at Durant, these graduates can move on to higher education, careers, the military or whatever future plans they may have.

With COVID-19 and several other contributing factors, these graduates didn’t quite have a completely normal high school experience, but they’re still thankful for the many memories and friends they made along the way at Durant. And they were able to enjoy a normal graduation, an event they had been hoping for. 

Congratulations to all of this year’s Durant seniors for their many accomplishments leading up to and including graduating from high school. No matter what these students may pursue in the future, they will always be remembered as Durant Cougars.