EDITORIAL: No place like home for grads

The graduation season is upon us.

It is a time when our local and regional high schools will say farewell to graduating seniors. It is a time when students have been recognized for their achievements as they set their thoughts on the future.

Graduations are milestone events in people’s lives because they represent so much to so many. 

They represent the completion of a long task.

They represent the success of a job well done for students, teachers and parents.

They represent a coming of age.

Graduations are more like bridges than conclusions.

Graduations aren’t so much the end but, rather, what’s next?

Graduates will weigh how they can best continue preparing for their lives by deciding what they hope to accomplish, what they hope to do, who they plan to be and where they plan to go.

Many of our young people will travel far away to attend schools in distant cities and in other states.

We wish them well.

Others will look closer to home for their personal what’s next. These graduates shall not find their options wanting.

Valdosta has many educational opportunities for regional high school graduates. They can attend Valdosta State University. They can attend Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. They can attend Georgia Military College.

Each of these institutions has earned degrees of prestige throughout the state and, in many arenas, throughout the Southeast.

The institutions’ reputations for excellence are what attract thousands of high school graduates from other towns and other states to South Georgia each year.

The diversity of opportunities offered by VSU, Wiregrass and GMC are also what keeps so many of our young people close to home each year.

For educational possibilities, there’s no place like home in Valdosta.