At some point this month, each local senior will step onto the graduation stage and accept his or her diploma from a school administrator.
Thirteen years of hard work and dedication in the classroom have come to fruition for hundreds of Mississippi and Craighead County students.
Over the next few weeks, there will be tears of joy and sadness as one chapter closes and another begins.
Likely, there will be both excitement and anxiety in walking off that platform and into the future.
Some will be headed off to an in-state or out-of-state university, while others will choose to stay in town and take advantage of what Arkansas Northeastern College has to offer.
Still others will go straight into the workforce. Actually, ANC offers students a chance to do both with paid internships to companies like Nucor, Southworth, IPSCO, D&L, Systems Contracting, Kagome, Denso, Aviation Repair Technologies and more. Applications for the Fall 2019 Internship Program are open now through May 31 for those interested.
Whatever path the graduate chooses, there are plenty of options available to them.
ANC has one of the top nursing programs in the state, allows traditional students to take care of their basics without racking up a lot of debt and offers technical programs whose graduates start out making $40,000, $50,000, even $80,000 a year shortly after accepting their training certificate.
For those going straight into the workforce, there are plenty of good paying jobs available in Mississippi County for those willing to work.
The key is showing up to work, being on time and being willing to follow instructions.
That’s applicable to whichever career field one enters.
Best of luck to all of the graduates.