Mead Hall celebrates nine graduates
May 28—Columbia, Atlanta, Clemson and Tampa are among the cities on the near horizon for this year's Mead Hall Episcopal School graduates — a college- and university-bound group numbering nine this year, in the wake of May 27's commencement ceremony.
The school, which dates back to 1955, has Elizabeth Cram as this year's valedictorian and one of four students who have been at Mead Hall since their kindergarten years. Completing that quartet are Emma Farmer, Danielle Staggs and McCall Massey. Their classmates now setting out for life's next chapter are Preston Bledsoe, Anna Chafin, Jonathan Current, Hannah Kraus and Michael Stanley.
One of Mead Hall's most prominent graduates, Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, was the commencement speaker, sharing some wisdom gathered in his years as a student, attorney and legislator.
Young encouraged his successors to "display character, to have faith and be willing to give what it takes," in order to leave a strong foundation for future generations. He also shared the principle of "the dash" — the punctuation, as shown on a headstone, between the years of birth and death.
"What's going to go into that dash in your life? How are you going to be remembered? What are you going to do to make a difference? Will you achieve your dreams, and will you make a lasting impact on your community, wherever you end up, whether it's staying in Aiken or staying somewhere else in South Carolina, going to Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, L.A. — wherever you end up? Are you going to make a lasting impact on your community where you live? Are you going to impact your family — your husband, your wife and your children, and the world around you?"
Cram and her classmates are covering much of the South in making their plans for higher education. Bledsoe's plan includes Georgia Southern University, to pursue a degree in accounting, and Chafin is aiming for East Tennessee State University, to study nursing.
Cram, as a lifelong equestrian with plans for intercollegiate competition, has one of the more unusual routes ahead. She is looking to attend USC Aiken for her first year, to allow her to maintain her current horseback pursuits, and then head to the University of Georgia.
"I ride very competitively," she said, "and the finals that I'm doing this year go through December, so I don't want to be at a far-away college traveling back and forth, so that's why I'm going to USC Aiken for a year ... and then UGA offered me a scholarship to ride on their team, so then I'll go to UGA ... and be a business major."
Current is planning to study biology or geology at the University of South Carolina, and Farmer is heading for Clemson to study land and wildlife management. Kraus is bound for the University of Tampa, to pursue a double major in child development and psychology (and a minor in Spanish) and Clemson is Massey's next destination, in pursuit of a degree in studio art. Pre-med is Staggs' focal point, with plans to study at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia; and Stanley is planning to study aviation at Middle Georgia State University.
