Davie early college graduate Sontee Harriman celebrates with a cash necklace. - Photo by Karen Jarvis, Davie County Schools

By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

E’lyn Murphy remembers well her 10th grade year At Davie County Early College High School.
E’lyn and her friends would spend 10 minutes laying on the asphalt in the parking lot.
It was a time to remember.
“For 10 minutes a day, our world was reduced to quiet voices and hot pavement, cool winds and a blue sky.”
Speaking to fellow graduates at commencement exercises at the Brock Performing Arts Center in Mocksville on May 23, E’lyn talked about overcoming personal issues while a student at the school.
Struggling with anxiety, there was a fear of the unknown.
“My anxiety dictated why I did things and how I did them. It told me I would only be happy if I had complete control over my life.”
E’lyn fought that fear, but still worried that every path chosen might be the wrong one.
“I spent so much time being angry with myself for not knowing what I wanted to pursue that I wasn’t thinking about all of the happiness waiting quietly around me. My trouble was not that I didn’t know where I was headed; it was a fear of it being somewhere I didn’t expect to go.
“But that’s life. It’s challenge and surprise and change … and there’s no fast forward, no scene selection or pause button … just plain old living.”
E’lyn looked back at time at the early college, and realized the progress made in embracing the moment.
“The more that I look back, the more I see that fulfillment never came from absolute certainty, it came from those hot afternoons in the parking lot. It came from my friends and my family and my teachers for allowing myself to just be.
“The past is the past and the future is the future and we are here in the middle … a slight pause where the path splits. We look left and we look right, and we choose the one we think will get us where we want to go. The truth is that either path will take us there. Sometimes were are too focused on the approaching divide to remember that the road we walk does not define us.
“The way is long. The path is unknown … and the sky is so blue.”
Other commencement speakers also spoke about time, including Charlie Bonilla, a Phoenix Award winner.
“Time isn’t possible to recover, what has passed is passed, and what is to come is the change the wind is telling us to meet.”
Hold onto the present, he said.
“I would like to thank God … for allowing me to reach so many achievements and create so many memories that I hope to hold onto for years to come.”
Jesus Hernandez-Brito called time priceless.
“It is something we desperately wish to hold onto, however impossible. It is precious and fleeting.”
He admitted that he occasionally “wasting time.”
“We never seem to make the most of our time when we think we have plenty of it. The thing is, we don’t know how much time we truly have. With time, we must make the most of it.
“Stay busy with things that help ourselves grow and lift others up, for we only have one opportunity. Use your time for more than the superfluous things in life. Love deeply, give generously, and make sure that other lives are enriched by you.”
Rocelyn McKay led the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, and Vidhi Sharma led a moment of silence.
A message from each graduate was played for the audience before diplomas were handed out.
Principal Sam Brown said he had recently spent time reflecting on his life, and “how quickly the time passes.”
“Graduates, I hope you take the time to reflect on the 18 years that brought you here, your list of blessings, and the perspectives you’ve gained through that great teacher who is experience. Each day is a step to a future of your own creation.”
Brown offered some advice to the 27 graduates.
“Make taking care of yourself – physically and mentally – a priority.
“Try not to obsess about how people look at you.
“Always take the high road. Treat everyone with respect and dignity, even if they don’t return the same.”
He told the graduates to listen to their classmates.
“Take their words to heart. Lead with love in a world that is increasingly led by hate. Be the light. Be the good.”