That was how Kelsi Carlson chose to start off her speech, as one of four graduating seniors to address their classmates at the South Central Calhoun commencement ceremony Sunday.

“I know looking back on this day, none of you will remember the words I say,” Carlson said, “but I know you will remember the great times we spent together as the South Central Calhoun Titans.”

One of the 63 graduates, Kody Case, got a special surprise when officials from the Iowa Football Coaches Association came to the school to present him with the 2017 Ed Thomas “Faith, Family and Football” award.

“It’s an honor,” Case said.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Many SCC students decorated their mortarboards; Joran Feldhans used his to honor fallen police officers Jamie Buenting, Rockwell City Police, and Justin Martin, Des Moines Police who grew up in the Rockwell City area. Feldhans said he knew both of them, and he plans to go into law enforcement.

The award is given in honor of the longtime head coach of Applington Parkersburg High School, who was shot and killed in 2009.

Case was a good choice for this, said SCC Athletic Director Mark Schaefer, who presented the award.

“I admire you because you are a kind person. You treat everybody the same,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a student more deserving of this award.”

Carlson, Vanessa Squier, Lindsey Sweeney and Jordan Ludwig all shared memories and wisdom with their classmates. More than one were sad to be leaving friends behind.

“It’s a universal truth that everything ends,” Sweeney said. “As much as I’ve looked forward to this day, I’ve never liked endings — the last day of summer, the final chapter of a good book, or parting ways with close friends. But endings are inevitable.”

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Deianeira Grage celebrates her graduation from South Central Calhoun Sunday with her sister Arieanna Grage, class of 2021; her nephew Trenton Griffel, class of 2035; and neice Alivia Griffel, class of 2033. Her older sister Elizabeth Grage (mother to the younger ones) takes a picture.

Leaving her friends is like leaving her second home, Ludwig said.

But moving on means her classmates can make a new start, Squier said, in a new place where nobody knows if you were the star football player or the basketball coach’s daughter.

“Nobody will know our most embarrassing moments, like when I ripped my pants at the end of the sweetheart dance,” she said. “Where we end up next is a new start where we can be anything our imaginations think of.”

Carlson listed some of the best memories she’d collected from the seniors.

“We all remember the day Mrs Anderson said we will not survive high school and college unless we learn to staple at a 45 degree angle,” Carlson said. “And even though our diplomas almost got taken away, the senior prank was still a fun adventure.”

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Senior Class Sponsor Julia Jacobs helps Aspen Ellis with her flower before she gets her diploma at the South Central Calhoun commencement ceremony Sunday in Lake City.

She didn’t elaborate.

Before the ceremony started, Halee Villhauer-Bundt agreed that leaving high school is kind of sad — she’ll miss all the people. She also offered some advice she would have liked to hear four years ago.

“You don’t have to be as nervous as you were when you walked in,” Villhauer-Bundt said. “Nothing lasts forever.”

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Abigail Clark has her tassel flipped from the left side to the right by SCC Superintendent Jeff Kruse on the stage, just after being handed her diploma in front of her parents and peers during the commencement ceremony Sunday.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Athletic Director Mark Schaefer gives Kody Case a jar with beans and a ping-pong ball, telling him how sometimes you're on top of the world, and sometimes the world is on top of you. By shaking the jar Case got the ball on top of the beans again. Schaefer presented Case with the 2017 Ed Thomas award.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Halee Villhauer-Bundt hugs her mother Jennifer Villhauer and gives her a flower after being given her diploma at SCC Sunday.