Throwback Thursday - 2000 Graduation

     This year marks the 20th anniversary of the day I graduated from Eureka Senior High School in Eureka, Missouri. May 24, 2000, to be exact. My gosh, it's so hard to believe it's been 20 years. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. I am still in touch with some of my friends from school though we may not be as close as we used to be. We created so many memories during our years in high school. Even though there were many happy times, there were many rough times too, and I have to say, I was so glad to be done with high school. On the day of our graduation, I was wondering if I was going to cry knowing this chapter of my life was coming to an end. But the truth is, I didn't shed one tear. I was too happy to be done with all of this and ready to move on to the next stage of life. My senior year was a rough one for me for many personal reasons, so to put it all behind me was a relief.
     If there was one thing I miss the most, it would be Color Guard.

Guard was one of the only things that made high school worth it for me. It was my happiest time. I was on the Color Guard squad all four years of high school. For the first semester of my Senior year, I made was captain. It was like a dream come true. As happy as I was to have that honor, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be like. It proved to be too much stress for me, so when we had Winter Guard tryouts for the second semester, I didn't apply to be captain. I was content to just enjoy performing. That year was the first year Eureka High School had a dedicated

Winter Guard that actually competed. And that year, we took first place in our division at the State Competition. It was the best way to end my time with Guard and it sure was the start of something great that has continued on to this day. I still have my uniforms, shirts, and sweatsuits from all four years along with one of my flags. Yes, I still have a flag. Don't judge me haha! I've also saved some other remnants from Guard which I will share below.

     My favorite class from Senior Year was Photography. You can ask anyone, I was crazy with photos. I always had a camera taking photos. One thing a lot of my friends remember was my bedroom walls covered in all the photos I took. Covered like wallpaper, stapled to the wall. Yes stapled. So it only made sense to take a photography class to

learn more about how to operate a camera and develop my own photos. I still have the negatives from that class and copies of the photos I had turned in for grades. I loved the development process. Today, we live in a digital world where we get to see the photo we took immediately. When I was in school, that wasn't the case. You had to wait until the roll of film was developed to see if you got a good picture or not. The photo shared here is my most favorite. It was a little stream of water flowing into the larger creek. I was able to catch the reflection of the trees in the water.

     Unfortunately, with the pandemic still in full swing, the 20th reunion has been postponed. But I thought it was the perfect time to start to preserve what I do have from those years and reminisce while doing it. I guess this is where I'm glad my parents are hoarders. They kept EVERYTHING. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have come across. All from my years in school dating back to elementary school: Papers, stories, photos, report cards (oh dear!), and even some embarrassing things such as a letter I wrote to my crush that I never had the never to send. Oh, why mom?

     Something that will take some time will be digitizing all the shirts I acquired relating to my life in high school. I want to photograph each shirt & add them to a scrapbook of some kind. Then, I am considering taking those shirts and turning them into a T-shirt quilt. All they are doing is sitting in a box, so why not repurpose them and put them to good use. Hence why I want to photograph them first cause as time goes on, I know they will wear out.

     From graduation itself, I have saved my cap, my tassel, my diploma (Obviously lol), the program, invitation, a ticket to the ceremony, and of course photos. I have also kept a few things that were special to me from all four years of high school. I will share them also below. I also have a video from the day, but no clue where it is right now. Probably at my parents' house.

     At the time I graduated High School, I didn't think about keeping or preserving things from that time of my life, but I am glad my parents kept most of it safe. Being a family historian and genealogist has made me appreciate my high school memorabilia more than ever. Even though at the time I wanted nothing more than to move on with my life, it's still an important chapter that needs to be remembered.

Congrats Class of 2000!

Happy 20 years!