Graduation has so much meaning to an individual, a family and a community.

Zakiya Sheikh, a senior at Lewiston High School:  “Graduation means that seniors are all being recognized for all the work that they have done. It is a way for all the graduates to showcase their achievements for their friends and family.

“It is also a way for all the Somali graduates to represent the Somali community in a positive light. When everyone else sees Somalis graduating, it makes it more normative and effectively breaks the negative stereotypes placed on us. It shows that Somali kids in Lewiston are striving for a better future and actually do contribute to the greater good of the community,” Sheikh said.

I was born in Kenya. About 10 years ago, my father brought my sisters and I to the United States to get a a quality education. Therefore, graduation is a very important occasion for my family and I.

I don’t think I will ever stop thanking him for that. The only thing I want in life is to make my father and the rest of my family proud; pay my father back for what he has done for me, and make myself proud and make God proud.

Parents play a major role in their children’s’ high school aspirations. They  push their kids to strive for the best and take advantage of education because for some it is an opportunity that they never had. 

I am beyond grateful to have selfless parents who want to see me succeed in every aspect of my life.

In my opinion, the diplomas are in the hands of the students and they are to be congratulated, but the diploma also belongs to the mother or father or guardian who pushed them to aim for the stars. It belongs to the parents who have sacrificed so much so that their child could succeed.

Graduation also represents achievement. 

Ashlynn Belanger will be the second person from her family to graduate from high school. Graduation for her means achievement

Chandler Clothier:  “Having an accessible, quality education is a privilege that a lot of people sadly don’t have, so I’m just beyond thankful.”

And graduation also shows that you have learned to persevere through stressful, difficult situations.

Life can be absolutely stressful  and there will be hard times but having a support system, whomever it may be, hold you down and push you is vital in one’s path to success. There is no better feeling than making yourself and your loved ones proud. Graduation season is a time for joy, celebration and accomplishment

Fahad Hassan,  senior:  Graduation signifies “an adolescent becoming a man or woman. One gets closer to adulthood and being on their own. To me graduation also signifies four years of going through struggles and adversity and persevering through it all. It is a happy time both for my community and I.”

I have had a stressful time with prioritizing. I push myself too much at times that I need to take a step back and tell myself, “You can do this, just go at your own pace.” I find life to be beautiful in the way that, yes, you will have a hard time and you will struggle and that struggle might last a while, but you’re not going to get stuck there, you’re going to survive

Seniors have learned a lot about themselves by the time they graduate.

Some students have been reflecting on their time in Lewiston High School and the mistakes they have made so they can learn from it. 

Graduation also means a fresh start for many.

Divine Selengbe:  “Graduation for me means not being labeled by my high school peers. It means moving on and creating who I want to be.”

One chapter closes, another opens.

Khadija Haji is a rising senior at Lewiston High School. She was about 7 when her family left Kenya for the United States 10 years ago. She has lived in Lewiston for most of that time. Though Swahili is her first language, she learned to speak English while she was in Kenya.  After she graduates from LHS in 2017,  Khadija plans to attend a four-year college, majoring in nursing. She aspires to get her master of science degree in nursing and become a nurse practitioner.