Photo Shoot: Endings and beginnings as Bourne High graduates

Steve Heaslip, Cape Cod Times
·2 min read

Endings and beginnings are a staple in the month of June, halfway through another year, as the Class of 2022 prepares to collect its diplomas. Valedictorians will no doubt speak to classmates about their formative years together and now, that door “closes” and a new one opens.

A weary world wonders when the “end” of the pandemic will finally arrive. The war in Ukraine goes from battle to battle and the global community hopes for an end to the conflict through negotiations.

A video short on the New York Times website by Tala Schlossberg called “What the Pandemic Can Teach Us About Endings,” takes a different view of the finite beginning and ending of things. As for doors closing and opening, she suggests life is much more like “a long hallway” we all walk through. Unlike the movies, when the plot is neatly wrapped up as the ending credits roll, life is much less organized.

Senior Savannah Kelley checks the time before stepping off with classmates outside the Bourne Intermediate School where the grade schoolers ringed the school to cheer on this year's Class of 2022. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times
Senior Savannah Kelley checks the time before stepping off with classmates outside the Bourne Intermediate School where the grade schoolers ringed the school to cheer on this year's Class of 2022. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times

Watching the Bourne High School seniors celebrate as they walked around a cheering perimeter of grade-school students at the Bourne Intermediate School was a perfect example of this theory. Today’s third graders are tomorrow’s seniors. Some 2022 grads will no doubt be standing outside the grade school in a few years as teachers, completing the circle.

Anticipating the beginning or ending of anything can be exciting or fearful. "Live in the moment" is a popular catch phrase. Certainly that’s where the eyes of the photojournalist are focused. Anticipating what might happen next is helpful; think too far ahead and the present is lost.

As the Class of 2022 moves its mortarboard tassels from left to right, going from seniors to graduates, beginnings and endings blur into one moment. It’s best not to get too wrapped up in things, check your smart watch like Bourne senior Savannah Kelley, send your mom a text message and don’t worry about closing and opening doors, walking down the hallway of life, just enjoy the stroll.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: Class of 2022 signals beginnings and endings