A second aspect that has been keeping my busy has been taking in the amazing activities that students have been involved in.  What?  You don’t believe me?  Take this in – the FIRST EVER performance in the new Performing Arts Center at ASF – Beauty and the Beast – I went to every night’s show.  Why?  Why not just go to one?  Here is the thing, it is so easy to take for granted the fact that these students that are seniors will always be seen, always be around.  Yet, in an instant, they grow up and move on, as we do too, and then are on their way to do great things.  It is QUITE amazing to see them in roles that they normally would not perform as, and before you realize it, they are capturing your attention in a way that they have never done.  I was AMAZED to see these students perform in a such as Beauty and the Beast, yet transform the meaning based on their abilities.  All three night’s was truly not enough, as something different was seen each night, thanks to the heart and soul these students put into the play.  This made me realize how much I was going to miss these students, that I had JUST been familiarized in less than a year! I could say more, but I can’t, it rests deep within me!    Let’s fly north to my former residence in Delaware – don’t think for a minute that I did not have the graduation of Seaford High, in my mind.  These were the last wave of students that were my army of doers, they never sat on the sidelines and let life pass them by.  In one year alone, the last groups of PAVE pulled together a movement to pull of Battle of the Bands, work at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C., raise funds for the Seaford Library, the Seaford Cultural Center, work with students at Blades, as well as spend time caring for the Soroptomist Park Garden.  I can’t think of a more impressive team of students that spare time they could be doing things and share with others…Priyanka Patel, Thania Sanchez, Uri Rebolledo, Tammy Pham, Akshay Patel, Jacques Jules, Ketsia Aurele, Emily Phifer, to name a FEW – that set their hearts out in front of them for the sake of others, and the :shakers and movers” of a community are now moving onto to larger and more diverse communities, that will benefit from their selflessness.  My heart, despite physical location, is always is awe and beats a few beats faster due to the strength these young people have and exert to others around them.

If you take time to skip back to Mexico, another major feat has been the advent of the ASF literary magazine.  (Repentino Cover ) This is a production that was formerly called Reflections, yet was resurrected due to the will of a small (SIX) group of students willing that art, their heartfelt words, as well as willingness to fight the adversity of so many odds against them to push, push, until… success.  This sounds so heroes, but if you war part of anything that seemed to have every odd against you, roadblocks put in you path each step of the way, yet still were able to overcome them, there is no act, small or large, that is not worth the recognition of achieving your goals.  This has become more than a magazine, it became an adventure into the unknown, and truly, these brave students put their insights of what felt right in their heart, what would touch people through their eyes, their minds, and their experiences, put this into a magazine worthy of the most developed yearbook.  After serving on a yearbook for 5+ years, and always struggling with a budget, I forced myself to stand back, and let the students grapple with struggles, and come in at times to help encourage progress; yet to the most unknown area of my soul I still have not yet reached, I felt their persistence and unwillingness to stop and wondered, how can they keep doing this?  I am very proud that they will have their last (flyer for mic night June 6th) tomorrow, Wednesday June 6th, but it is truly celebration of what can be achieved with not letting any dream go.  From traveling to New York, to the support of some amazing friends like Ms Kang and Mr Martinez, as well as so many supporters, to the many hurdles they had to overcome, they all came through as winners.

To end, the highpoint was being surrounded by a group of 18+ new students, interested in the 2012-2013 magazine that would be Repentino. next year.  I saw the hardships, the hurdles, and the energy that started with these six students who won the runner up for most involved club, through the faces that now filled a VERY  long table. I also imagined how amazing this production will be with these talented students coming in for a new year.   I realized, all the advice from others to spend more time on myself actually had been occurring, I was investing myself in the belief of these other young minds around me, and wow, could they soar!  I have had so many investments that you cannot see in a bank, but in the faces of those that surround me, and I have to say, I have never been richer thanks to the wealth of these young students that have so much to offer and have done so already at such a young age!

A HUGE congratulations to the graduating class of 2012 – both in Seaford, DE as well as in Mexico City Mexico.  I can guarantee some huge changes in the world around us thanks to these individuals that will go on to make many changes for the better.  Wait until you see the graduating classes of 2013 and 2014, the best is yet to come!