It's been a tough road for the class of 2021.
As Calvary Lutheran High School valedictorian Baileigh Morris noted, the graduates have seen a tornado rip through their community and lived through a global pandemic that changed so much.
And they lost someone.
"We lost a classmate who was like our brother," Morris said as she spoke on the loss of Kelton Sellars, who died in a car accident in April 2020.
As Morris spoke to her fellow graduating seniors at Calvary Lutheran on Saturday morning, a chair had been set aside for Sellars with a sign decorated and bearing his name, and a pair of boots at the floor. The Rev. Brian Thieme said during the graduation worship service that Sellars had simply beat the rest of his class through the doors to the afterlife.
"But ultimately, that's where God calls us," Thieme said.
But as the class remembered and honored their lost classmate and friend, they also celebrated the journey they've taken together.
Salutatorian Rebecca Schatte likened the class to a group of different ingredients that "were able to mix together and create a pretty great smoothie." By working together and connecting, she said, they were able to get through everything that came at them in the past few years.
"It especially allowed us to help each other and heal after the loss of Kelton last year - and to come together this year to celebrate his life," Schatte said. "God has been with us for every step of the way."
The Calvary Lutheran High School class of 2021 is made up of 34 seniors, seven of whom are in the National Honor Society. During the commencement ceremony, at the point that Kelton Sellars' name would have been called, school officials presented a gift to Sellars' family causing the entire room to break out in cheers and applause.
In her speech, Morris recalled the best running advice she had received - to simply "forget everything and run." That, she said, is important to remember as the class moves forward in life. Ignore the pitfalls and obstacles, and choose to run the race God has set for you, she said.
"We know the time we have is short," Morris said.