Graduates look forward to challenges, back on memories

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Graduates look forward to challenges, back on memories

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
Those words, written by Dr. Seuss, were spoken Tuesday night as 80 students, joined by family, friends and faculty, received their diplomas from the Cranbury School.

Regardless of the saying, which many students probably first heard nine years ago when they were just kindergartners, both tears and cheers filled the gymnasium as the eighth-graders reflected on their journey.

Hundreds of proud parents and relatives, armed with cameras and flowers, stood as the first notes of "Pomp and Circumstance" were played on the piano and the young adults slowly paraded through the gym doors.

The boys, wearing classy suits or jackets and khakis, and girls, wearing stylish dresses and heels, took their time as they walked down the aisle and up to the bleachers, stopping for the occasional flash of the camera.

A string of blue and white balloons arched over the Cranbury Vikings banner behind them. Some students stared out at the audience, filled with families and teachers, with a look of disbelief, shocked that the time had gone by so quickly. Others grinned ear to ear, unable to mask their excitement for their transition into the future.

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