I can’t believe we’ve reached the point already that the Class of 2024 has graduated. They weren’t even in high school yet when I started working here at the Journal.
The year has passed by so quickly. The way things sped up during the winter and spring, it felt like three months ago I was visiting the JWP volleyball team a week before school started to take photos of them for our sports preview, followed by covering their game later that night, which didn’t finish.
How did this year go by so fast? Most of the graduating seniors are probably asking that. I tell you what, though. This was a fantastic school year. JWP’s boys’ basketball team upset two state-ranked teams and made their first conference championship in years. The girls’ basketball team also beat NRHEG for the first time in two decades and did so twice. Girls’ track proved they were the best team in the conference again and made the True Team State Tournament. And that was just sports alone.
I finally got to make a band concert, and they sounded great. I also made not one, but two choir concerts. The band had an All-Stater, which happened for the first time in several years (not 33 like we first thought; we never did run a rebuttal about that error). And, of course, the JWP musical and swing show were fantastic. I’m glad that the music department is getting the love it deserves.
I know JWP baseball has a long way to go before they celebrate too much. However, they still deserve some praise for beating the number one seed in their section, Southland, on Saturday, May 25. Since I was invited to a graduation party, I missed most of the game, but I wanted to make it to Austin no matter what since there was a potential double-elimination game they have played afterward if they lost.
Instead, I made it to the seventh inning of their game against Southland to witness them pull off one of the biggest upsets in the state of Minnesota.
I’m not sure too many other teams can say they upset the number one seed in their section this last week, especially as a lower seed like JWP. It would be great to see them get a section title; they proved that they can beat the number one team in the section, and they might have to do it again because of double elimination rules.
Sure, it meant that I was only in Austin for 20 minutes. But I got the money shot of them celebrating on the mound. And after all, the fact I did make it to see that made the one-hour drive worth it.
I hope to make it to an entire game this week.
Anyway, congratulations to this year’s seniors for graduating. Here are some sage words of wisdom from your friendly neighborhood newspaper editor in a section I’d like to call, “Life Advice You Never Asked For.”
I already went through some advice about it being okay to fail last year. But sometimes, most of us forget where we came from after high school. As soon as I began college, I found that many of my beliefs, the values I was taught, and the lessons I learned from school were challenged and continually questioned. A significant part of this was due to the 2016 election because, let’s be honest, most liberal arts colleges are leftist. Although Gustavus students against Trump didn’t set things on fire, there still were a few protests and some other stuff I saw, which I shall not share in this paper. For someone raised in a primarily conservative family in our mostly conservative area, it was quite a shock.
So, that’s my life advice. Don’t forget where you came from. Use what you’ve learned so far and the values you’ve been given, and think critically about everything that’s going on around you. It’s a new beginning for all of you, but remember that if you feel like everything you know is wrong and you feel like you’re not doing the right thing or you don’t belong where you are, you have people to fall back on right here in Janesville. You are who you are because you were raised here and graduated from JWP. Congratulations to the Class of 2024!