Editorial:

Graduating from high school has always been an accomplishment worthy of praise. And with each generation, matriculation becomes even more impressive.

The Class of 2008 is composed of individuals from all socioeconomic groups, and its members will go through life, the tech-savvy products of our times that they are, and make a mark.

Some people would say that graduating from high school these days isn’t so hard, what with the Internet and the ease with which members of this graduating class gather information compared with times past. Why, these youngsters didn’t even have to learn long division or the Dewey Decimal System.

But this generation has its own crosses to bear, its own complications. With advances in technology come extra choices. And some of these choices may not always be for the best. And despite the high-tech influences that the Class of 2008 has had to contend with, it has managed to succeed. The graduating Class of 2008 has sidestepped those bad choices and negative influences brought on by a society whose appetite for the concepts of more and faster and bigger could have put a damper on any high school student’s ambitions. This was not accomplished in a vacuum, however.

A host of characters have worked just as diligently to help make this graduation a success. There are teachers, like Burroughs’ Tania Hurd and others, who put a light in their students’ eye and helped to guide them through life and to the point of high school graduation while allowing them to maintain a sense of individuality.

And we can’t forget parents, who have offered their support and guidance as well. The honors of these graduates are well-deserved and should be shared by everyone in the community.

Some individuals will be fortunate enough to pursue a higher-level education in one of our nation’s colleges or universities. Although this new environment will be somewhat similar to the one the young men and women are leaving, it will be larger and more expensive. Ideally, it will even better prepare these young people to enter the workforce.

Other graduates will join the military, attempting to serve their country during an extremely tenuous and dangerous time.

And then some grads will enter the workforce right away, possessing the skills that they’ll need to survive, skills that were honed during school. After all, college isn’t for everyone.

Some members of the Class of 2008 will make millions, or at least a comfortable living, as entrepreneurs.

We congratulate the Class of 2008, with its future politicians, engineers, physicians, architects, scientists, academics, farmers, homemakers and other citizens who can help make this a better world.

The possibilities are endless for these new graduates.

We can only hope that the vicissitudes of life will not be able to take that spark out of their eye.