May 24, 2013. I could never forget that particular Friday. Nerves and excitement wracked my body as I prepared to transition into a new stage of my young life. I was about to graduate highschool.

The day started off terrible, at least for me it did. You know how in movies when something important comes up, everything leading up to it goes awry? Well, that’s exactly how it happened for me. “Donavin where the heck is my other shoe,” I irritably asked my then 5-year-old brother. For some reason, I knew that he had something to do with the disappearance of my beloved black wedge. The fact that I was graduating in a few hours and could not find it frustrated me to no end. After over half an hour of endless searching, I finally found it … hiding under the bed.

The next misfortune occurred when it was time to do my hair. For some odd reason, it simply would not turn out the way that I had intended it to. The weave that I had bought guaranteed that it would be able to sustain a great temperature of heat and maintain the endless curls that I desired. Come to find out, it accomplished none of those things. So of course I was quite upset about that! “This is some bull,” I exclaimed. Eventually, my sisters and I had to return to the hair store to purchase a more reliable product of weave. Thankfully, this brand stuck to its word and didn’t have me looking crazy on one of the most important days of my life. When I left the hair shop this time, I was camera ready.

Time soon started to wind down. It was getting closer and closer to show time. I was so nervous on the inside, but tried to act like I had everything under control on the outside. As we were heading to the school, I noticed my mother looking at me through the review mirror. “You ready for this, Renita?” she looked at me and smiled. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied. Little did she know, I was shaking like a stripper on the inside.

In no time, my classmates and I were lining up in alphabetical order. Everyone looked so nice. All of the girls had on flowing, bright dresses with their hair styled to perfection. Meanwhile, all of the guys had fresh lines and haircuts along with their various styles and colors of ties and bowties. All you could see were beaming, eager faces. “Girl, we made it,” my best friend Donna exclaimed to me. “Yeah, we sure did,” I breathlessly told her back.

As we marched to the football field, where commencement took place, all I could hear were my friends and family cheering me on. “Congratulations, Renita!” they shouted. All I could do was grin from ear to ear. I smiled so much that day, I was surprised my face didn’t get stuck like that. I had never been so happy and proud of myself and my peers. I thought to myself, “This is it… the moment I’ve been waiting for! It’s finally here.”

Next thing you know, our school principal, Mr. Goodloe, was calling my classmates’ names, one by one, to come to the stage and receive their diplomas. I was so happy for them. Some of the class clowns were moon-walking and jerking across the stage. Pretty soon, Mr. Goodloe made it to the last names beginning with L. “Renita Lacy,” I heard booming across the megaphone. “Thank you, Jesus!” I shouted and fist pumped the air. As I walked across the stage, all I heard were screams, cries, blow horns, whistles and cheers. I delightedly took the piece of paper that I had worked so hard for over the past 12 years with a smile as bright as the sun. As I left the stage, my little moment of glory ended and it finally hit me… I had just graduated high school.