There are some goodbyes that are harder than others, and Friday, 9 October, was certainly one of them.
Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ceremony for the Class of 2026 was an incredibly emotional occasion, filled with tears, laughter, hugs and the kind of friendship that only comes from years of growing up together.
๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ and how much being part of this class has meant to them.
From the heartfelt words shared by Mr Pringle and our head prefects, Liso Booi and Misha Newton, to the matrics singing ๐๐ฏ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ together and watching their school years unfold in a slideshow, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ.
And as the familiar words of the accompanying song by Green Day, ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ (๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ) remind us, we really do hope theyโve had the time of their lives.
Because somewhere between the ordinary school days, the laughter in the corridors, the friendships, the challenges and all those little moments they probably never thought twice about, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐โ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Watching them walk out together for the last time was a reminder of just how quickly these years pass.
๐ง๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ: we hope that when you look back on your time at Union, youโll remember not only the things you did, but the people you shared them with and how it all made you feel.
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ!
