As the seniors prepare to say their final goodbye, Mrs.Otto and the staff prepare a wonderful dessert banquet table and bags for the seniors. When the seniors open their bags and get their desserts, Mrs.Otto plays a song she feels represents it all, that song is called “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts, Mrs. Otto adds that “Even though the original idea of Decision Day stems from students officially signing for a college they plan to attend, here at Concord, it is beyond that, it is about all of our student’s decisions. It is a tribute to the challenge of identifying a plan, their plan for their life. I respect that each of our students is an individual who has their own goals, not just for a career, but in all aspects of life. They are the one who has to navigate the next (approximately) seventy years of their life. It should be filled with their ideas, their dreams. Decision Day is our way of recognizing the immediate plan they have for after high school to make those dreams their reality.”

After the seniors enjoy their dessert and get their shirts, Mrs. Otto and Mr. Mojume gather tickets that have the students’ names on them and put them in a basket. Whoever’s name was pulled out of the basket got a 25-dollar gift card for gas. During this process a slideshow of the seniors and their post-secondary plans was playing on the TV in the lunchroom. Senior Dezamae Dilyard shared “I am excited to graduate high school because have I learned good life lessons in school that have taught me how to put them in to play and use them when needed, and with that, I cannot wait to go to college because there is so much more it is for me to learn, and I am willing and ready to take that step. On the day you graduate, remember that it’s not what you do that makes people proud, it is how you do it.” Most of the seniors are going to college right after high school, but senior Lacee Girardin is taking a different route to college, “I plan to take a year off and save money. and then go to college after and become a psychologist.” Even though Lacee isn’t going directly into college she is taking a route that in the end can end with her having less debt. 

The ones who are entering the workforce have just as bright of a future as the ones who are going to college. Going into the workforce doesn’t mean that they are lazy. It can simply mean that they are ready to get a start in life and continue down the path they are on. College isn’t for everyone, maybe they will end up in college later down the road. It is completely up to the seniors and what they choose to do to achieve their American dream.

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Caylin Bell