05/23/2026
There’s just something different about graduation week. The packed gyms and football fields, families yelling your name from the crowd like they’re front row at a concert 😂, classmates trying not to trip walking across the stage, and that moment when you finally receive your diploma after 4 years of alarms you ignored, homework you waited until the last second to do, early mornings, late nights, stress, laughs, and memories you’ll never forget.
It’s the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. A moment where you realize… “Dang, we actually made it.”
Over the last few days, so many students across the EVSC community got to experience that feeling, and honestly, it’s been pretty emotional watching it all unfold.
For me personally, it hit a little harder watching 5 of my JROTC Cadets wear their uniform for the last time. Seems like just yesterday they were walking out of my classroom yelling “Bye T!” or “See ya tomorrow SGT T!” while also somehow leaving a trail of snack wrappers, water bottles, and absolute chaos behind them 😂.
Well… tomorrow is officially here, y’all.
And no, you won’t be seeing me Monday. Mostly because it’s summer break and ya girl needs a vacation 😎… but also because YOU DID IT. You graduated.
You showed your family, your friends, your instructors, and yourselves that all the hard work paid off. The long nights studying, balancing sports, jobs, family responsibilities, friendships, heartbreaks, growing pains, and everything life threw at you over the last four years led to this moment.
As an instructor, people think we just teach and move on to the next group of students, but truthfully, y’all leave an impact on us too. Watching you grow into young adults ready to take on the world has been one of the best part of this job. Seeing confidence built, friendships formed, leaders step up, and goals accomplished… that stuff means something.
This week also marks one full year since I retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years in uniform. Never in a million years did I think retirement would lead me into a high school classroom, hearing “Hey SFC T!” 400 times a day 😂, but honestly, this past year has been one of the wildest, funniest, most rewarding experiences of my life.
So here’s to my 1-year retirement anniversary 🍻
Here’s to my 5 graduating Cadets 🎓
And here’s to every graduate from Bosse, Central, Harrison, North, Reitz, and all EVSC schools celebrating this week.
Be proud of yourselves. Seriously. You earned this moment. Go chase your dreams, work hard, make mistakes, learn from them, stay humble, and never forget where you came from. The world is officially yours now. Now go enjoy summer before life starts sending emails instead of homework 😂.
See y’all next school year… and at JCLC 😎🇺🇸
