PROSPERITY — Mid-Carolina High School graduated several hundred Rebels at a commencement ceremony held Wednesday evening in their gymnasium. The commencement address was delivered by Hubert Kinard, a member of the Mid-Carolina Class of 1967 and a career educator and coach.
Kinard began by stating he has never given a prepared speech and promptly tore his notes in half eliciting applause from those in attendance.
His message to the graduates centered around three main points — be prepared, be open-minded and be yourself.
“Whatever your plans are for the future, prepare yourself. You never know what direction life will take,” he said.
Kinard said after working 20 years in a job for which he had prepared while at Clemson University he suddenly found himself unemployed.
However, on the strength of several courses he had taken while in college Kinard was able to begin a second career as a teacher.
“Many of you will take jobs that have absolutely nothing to do with what you thought you were preparing for,” he said.
To the second point Kinard advised the graduating class, “Do not set one particular goal and say, ‘This is what I will do or else. Keep and open mind because life has a way of throwing detours in your path.”
And lastly Kinard encouraged the Class of 2016 to embrace their uniqueness and be happy with who they are.
“If you try to be someone you are not people will recognize this and all credibility will be lost,” he said.
Valedictorian Victoria Caldwell said when she first sat down to write her address she was unsure where to begin so she searched “Valedictorian speech” on Google.
However, Caldwell found that what the internet had to offer could not embody what is means to be a Rebel.
“Throughout our four years at Mid-Carolina High School we have had many mentors to guide us, we have made some amazing friends and we have made memories that will last a lifetime,” she said.
The crux of her speech was inspired by something head baseball coach Daniel Gregory said at last week’s athletics banquet.
“Coach Greg talked about how the baseball team didn’t lose, they just ran out of time,” said Caldwell, who believes the same holds true for the entirety of her graduating class.
“While it may not always be easy, it’s important to stay true to ourselves, hold our family and friends close and always remember where we came from,” she said. “After all, we’re not done being Mid-Carolina Rebels, we’ve just run out of time.”
In his Salutatorian address Cole Nichols spoke about overcoming adversity and finding strength in faith.
“In the next chapter of our lives we are going to face challenges and difficulties. We’ll be forced to make decisions that will shape our lives,” he said.
In order to articulate this notion Nichols shared a quote spoken by Sylvester Stallone in the 2006 film Rocky Balboa:
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”