Summer is upon us. Days are long, nights are short and things are heating up.
Eager to get out and enjoy it all are schoolchildren. Classrooms are full of restless, energetic youngsters, daydreaming through windows full of sunny, blue skies. Teachers find ways to take lessons outside as often as possible as a means to calming the exuberance. In the waning days of June, educational events are geared towards spending more time outdoors at field trips and track meets, picnics and play days.
And at the end of it all are graduation celebrations. It seems hardly a heartbeat ago that I attended these events for my children, the first when my oldest made the big transition into Grade 1 from kindergarten, more than 35 years ago.
Each educational milestone since has been bittersweet. There is happiness and satisfaction in seeing the growth and development towards the reality of an independent adult. But there is also sadness. With each door that closes on another graduation, the little boy or girl I’d known got closer to a life separate what we’d always known. Over time I came to see that each year was a move towards moving away.
When they graduated high school and left for higher learning, I was shocked by the many tears I shed. But it had become clear to me that the door of possibility that had opened for them now had changed the life I’d cherished for so many wonderful years. Though thrilled over their success, I knew things would never be the same again. When their post-secondary educations were complete, however, I had adapted enough to be able to rejoice completely in their accomplishments.
Graduations are big achievements. so, in celebration of this momentous occasion in a child, teen or young adult life, here are some terrific graduation illustrations for personal and promotional projects:
iCLIPART.com Graduation Illustrations
iPHOTOS.com Graduation Photographs
