Would-be graduation

Two weeks ago Thursday night I stopped by for the majority of Vincent's would-be graduation at the Brown School. Earlier in the week we had sent Congratulations cards to half a dozen of his friends who were graduating and thank you notes to several teachers, two of whom are leaving the school. Stephanie has gradually helped persuade Vincent to get back in touch with some of his old friends whom he ignored when he was hanging out exclusively with the Danes or Samantha. Vincent also recently got the yearbook we ordered for him as he was essentially being expelled. In counseling this week the counselor mentioned that she had reminded Vincent how liberal Brown is and how hard it must have been actually to get kicked out. On the other hand, on top of Vincent doing very little school work for the first seven months of the school year that he was at Brown, in hindsight it was never plausible that he was going to be able to complete his senior project. He did a little volunteer work and a little research (the latter under heavy prodding from me - prodding that I wasn't going to be able to sustain), and classmates quickly followed up on ideas they had both had for actual projects, beating him to the punch. Even if he had managed not to get kicked out and had passed several classes spring semester, I don't know how he would have ever gotten the project done, and it was technically due just a few weeks after he was expelled. Still, it was a bittersweet moment to see classmates walk around the stage and receive their diplomas (classmates like Aaron, Sam, Matthew, Shameka, Sharon, and Cody), partly from Carrie (one of Vincent's favorite teachers) and Alice (the teacher whose conflicts with Vincent helped get him kicked out). Another bittersweet aspect of watching this was seeing some of Vincent's other friends - who were certainly NOT smarter or more serious than he was - graduate. Plus reading and hearing about classmates' college plans and favorite quotes. I arrived late and left early, before the walking finished. If Vincent ever finishes at Jefferson County High School or successfully takes the General Equivalency Diploma test, there will be no actual commencement.

Click below to watch and listen as the school orchestra played early on during the event and for panning of the audience (which was much bigger than most Brown School audiences - perhaps even more crowded than the audiences for the Talent Shows).

-- Perry