The Unexpected Path: A Message from Class Advisor, Mrs. Brown

To the Senior Class of 2020,

One of my favorite themes to talk to the seniors about is the idea that you shouldn’t be so focused upon the destination that you forget to enjoy the journey!  Wow!  No one saw THIS journey coming….

For the most part, it is a pretty straight forward path to the final destination: GRADUATION.  Most of us start elementary school where we meet our peer group.  Sometimes we all move onto middle school together, and sometimes we join together with other elementary students.  Middle school is awkward for all of us as we transition through puberty and growing up.  Then we move onto high school with pretty established peer groups and an idea of what we like and don’t like.  We start to really figure out who we are and what we may want to do.  Some of us are good at this and some of us are really lost!  Finally, we come to our senior year and we may or may not participate in all that is offered.  It’s kind of up to the individual to decide.  Before you know it, it is here:  The day we walk across the stage and receive our diploma!!

But I can’t really use the word “we.”  I have never gone through the experiences you have.  You all made the brave and mature decision to leave what you knew and go to an entirely new school to learn a trade, or to have a fresh start or to…  whatever your reasons, you had already picked a new path.  But through your years at the LCCTC, you knew that the end game was still graduation.  

At the beginning of this year, you were told about all the great things you would get to do your senior year.  And then came the new path that your journey took — a path that you didn’t get to pick; the one where you didn’t get your prom, your banquet, your senior trip, or your “traditional” graduation.  The path that was laid out before you was completely changed. 

I am sure that you may be sad or frustrated or disappointed, but you are also something MORE — resilient and inspiring.  I can’t even begin to tell you how impressed I am with you.  You made a life-altering decision to come to the LCCTC; that, alone, took a lot of courage.  And you are experiencing a path to the end of your high school career that is unique to your class.  You have been forced to learn the life lesson that things don’t always go as expected in a way that no one else has ever experienced.  But because of all of this, you are uniquely prepared to start your new journey outside of the LCCTC — the one we call life! 

So, enjoy your journey even if it takes some unexpected twists.  You have already proven beyond all doubt that you can rise to the occasion — that you can handle it!

Congratulations to the Class of 2020!!

Julie Brown 

(Senior Class Advisor)

To enjoy Mrs. Brown’s virtual address, please click HERE.