Donovan Livingston, an academic adviser with the Upward Bound program at UNC-Chapel Hill, urged gradates of the Performance Learning Center and the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academy Tuesday to take time to appreciate the “baby steps” that they make.
Livingston, a Fayetteville native and UNC alum, was the guest speaker for the joint commencement exercises for the two alternative school programs housed at the Durham Performance Learning Center.
He shared with the audience that he is nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other and told graduates that they much approach life from a nearsighted and a farsighted perspective.
“If we only choose to focus on the big picture, we will live our lives in a perpetual state of disappointment because what we want is so very far away,” Livingston said, touting an advantage of the nearsighted view. “Instead, take the time to see the beauty in your baby steps.”
He added, however, that the farsighted view also has its advantages.
“Farsighted people have the unique ability to avoid peripheral distractions and keep their sights set on much larger purposes,” Livingston said. “As you mature, your nearsightedness and farsightedness become less about how you see the world and more about how you see yourself.”
Before his speech, Livingston asked graduates to turn and to look at someone in the audience who helped them make it to graduation.
“Your accomplish is not yours alone,” Livingstone said. “You succeeded because of your own efforts and those who saw something in you that made them invest their time, their money, their energy, effort and enthusiasm in you.”
In all, 51 students received their high school diplomas during the morning ceremony at the Holton Career and Resource Center attended by more than 200 people.
Twenty-two of the graduates were enrolled in the MJBA program and the remaining 29 in PLC.
Friends and family cheered the graduates, many of who had overcome challenging obstacles to earn their diplomas. Each graduate crossed the stage holding the hand of someone who was instrumental in their pursuit of a high school diploma.
Jennifer Fay, who offered the welcome, said she arrived at the Performance Learning Center with doubts about her ability to succeed.
She said the journey to graduation was a long and bumpy ride.
“The last semester has been the best,” Fay said “I stayed on track in all of my classes. This is a huge accomplishment for me.”
After the ceremony, family, friends and graduates mingled outside the school where they took pictures, exchanged hugs and made post-graduation plans.
Timon Kirby, 20, a graduate of the Bridgescape Academy, said graduation day was a longtime coming.
“It feels good,” Kirby said. “I can’t wait to see what’s next for me.”
He said his immediate plan is to attend Durham Tech to study math.
Jasmine Boyd, 19, a PLC graduate, was also feeling proud about earning her diploma.
“It feels good that I’ve finished,” said Boyd, who is also planning to attend community college to study nursing.
Durham Public Schools Board of Education Chairwoman Heidi Carter was beaming with pride after the graduation ceremony.
Carter said that even though the school received a failing grade from the state, it is not a failing school.
“This graduation is a demonstration of what a fallacy the letter grading system is,” Carter said. “This is why you can’t connect a letter grade with the actual performance and quality of the school.”
