The Class of 2018 took their place in Patrick County High School’s history following their commencement ceremony on Friday, and they now will embark on the next chapter.

Macie Rogers, class secretary, encouraged her classmates to ‘’Remember Your Roots’ as “we write our own stories. We’ve laughed together, cried together, succeeded together” and failed together, she said. “We’ll forever share pages of our individual stories.”

Moving forward, “no matter where you’re going, how far or how close you’ll be from Patrick County, remember where you came from,” she said.  “Here’s to the next chapter. Let’s make it worth reading.”

Helen Dawson, salutatorian, said that “being the best is not what matters. Being happy is what matters.”

The key to that is “realizing you’re not the center of the universe” and “doing you.”

Dawson quoted Peter 1: 1-6, which “says to be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead,” she said.

Seth McDaniel, vice president of the class, said he learned many lessons from Donny Rakes, coach and substitute teacher at PCHS, including “you get what you give.”

Rakes, he said, is “not a man of many words” but he is “a man of class. He’s taught me many things,” McDaniel said, adding one of the most important lessons is respect of life.

Rakes is “not only my coach, but also my mentor, and I’ll always remember him. He was there when I played my first game and he was there when I played my last game,” McDaniel said, adding another of Rakes’ lessons is to take action.

“It takes more than thinking,” he said Rakes taught him. “You have to jump.”

Sean Harbour, class president, quipped that graduates “have reached the peak of our high school career.”

Regardless of life takes them, Harbour asked his classmates “don’t go too far. I’ll need ya’ll’s votes here in a few years. … I’m planning to be sheriff of this great county.”

Nathaniel Wright thanked “all the teachers. Thank you for pushing us; thank you for making us work hard” and believing in students and their abilities. In short, “thank you for putting up with us,” he said.

Schools Superintendent Bill Sroufe said he appreciated parents. “This group of students is really special to me. Thank you for sharing them with me.”

Sroufe recalled watching many of the graduates grow and mature since 2006, and as he started to write his speech, he said he also started to think “more and more about time.

Distance is how fast you travel. Rate is the speed in which you accomplish your goals,” Sroufe said, adding that time is the unknown factor.

“On your journey, besides time, you must decide who you want to travel with. Life is about relationships. They give our life meaning,” he said.

“I implore you graduates to keep learning” and work hard, Sroufe said, and quoted Michael Gardner, an author.

“Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t and believe everything happens for a reason,” he said. “If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.”