Cars were lined up from Tiger Stadium to Fort Dale Road Tuesday as family and friends gathered to see the class of 2010 receive their hard-earned diplomas.

There were tears of joy and tears of sorrow as Greenville students wished farewells to classmates and teachers alike.

After the colors were presented and the pledge of allegiance was sung, salutatorian Amanda Monroe addressed the crowd.

“We are like ripples in a pond, moving slowly towards the shore,” Monroe began. “And like ripples, we can not get started alone, but have to be created and influenced. Let us not forget those who transformed us into ripples.”

She paused, collecting herself before continuing.

“Never doubt yourself or give up,” Monroe said. “It is time for us, the ripples, to strike the bank and make our own mark on the world.”

Valedictorian Connor Murphy-White followed Monroe with a more lighthearted speech, as she recalled getting to middle school where “boys didn’t look so ugly any more.”

Then came high school, when Murphy-White described the advent of the dreaded “uniforms.”

“I hope that all of my classmates go to college if for no other reason than to be in a classroom once again in a pair of blue jeans,” Murphy-White said.

After all 151 graduates names had been called, Murphy-White lead all in attendance in the Alma Mater.

When the last note had been sung, the new graduates enjoyed a celebratory tossing of the hats, a final long-awaited gesture that was well-deserved.

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