High school seniors are just not like they were when I was in high school. In 1975, SENIORS ruled Senatobia High School, all 100 or so of us! We were, by far, the coolest class that ever graduated from SHS.
My son, Drew, is a high school senior this year and I think I am more excited about his monumental year than he is. I’ve had so much fun reliving my youth at his high school band competitions, all the excitement of homecoming week, his senior photo shoot. I ask him a million questions every evening at dinner.
“Drew, I’m so excited about your senior Bible verse,” I said just last night. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12. I cannot imagine a better verse for you! Now, what is your class theme?”
“Seniors 2011 are UNSTOPPABLE!” he told me (again!), with a very slight roll of his eyes.
I just love that! His class is using the theme “Unstoppable” based on a verse in Romans 8 – “If God is for us, who can be against us.” Thus, they are UNSTOPPABLE! How cool is that?
“Mom,” Drew said, as I sat dreaming of his freshmen year at Mississippi State and how much fun he would have and how much fun WE would have going to the State ballgames. “What was your high school theme when you were a senior?”
“Well, not anything as great as yours,” I answered quickly. “What did you have for lunch today?”
“So, what exactly was it?” he persisted.
“Oh, I don’t even think I remember. Do you want any more of this spaghetti?”
“Ah, Mom, there is no way YOU don’t remember something like your SENIOR theme,” he laughed. “Spill it.”
“Well, I think it was something like ‘Raising Hell and Feeling Alive, We’re the Class of ’75.’”
“MOM! That is not very inspirational or encouraging,” my all-grown-up son said. “The class theme is supposed to set expectations for the rest of your life.”
Expectations? Really? I thought it was just supposed to rhyme. Heck, I’m not even sure it had to rhyme as long as it fit on the back windshield of a ’74 Firebird and it was catchy and you could dance to it. As far as a class quote, I can remember some quotes from Saturday Night Live, but that’s about it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences between my son at 18 years old and myself at that age. I can’t decide which is harder to believe – that MY child is getting ready to turn 18 or that I was ever that young!
I went into Drew’s room one night to tell him goodnight and I saw his Mississippi State Bulldog statue sporting the 70’s wig and peace sign necklace that he wore for 70’s Day during homecoming at school this year. After the dress up day at school, his wig and his peace sign landed on the little MSU mascot. That really made me laugh because it was so typical of his varied, far-reaching interests. My son is a perfect example of a child of a “Child of the ‘70’s.” As a product of 12 years in a very solid and wonderful Christian school, one side of him is articulate, serious, conservative, and thoughtful. He loves Mississippi State, his baritone horn, his new Droid phone, and all kinds of gadgets. But, having a mother who was a teenager slap dab in the middle of the 1970’s, he loves the music of the 70’s, the fashion, the cars, the sayings. He has my quirky sense of humor and we laugh at the same silly things – like Bully the Bulldog wearing a fro. When I tell him about what was going on during that time, he gets it. He has read all about it and understands the 70’s culture, thinks it’s a really interesting place and time to read about but doesn’t want to go there.
So much is expected of the youth today. And, many times we do not give them the tools to meet our expectations. The only things that we were expected to do in 1975 was to graduate and to stay out of trouble until we did. I have to say, most of us rose to the occasion. Still, if you grew up in this turbulent decade, it is not always easy to relay your hopes and dreams to these confident, independent children of ours.
Maybe if more had been expected of us, if our whole senior year had centered around an encouraging Bible verse or a strong word to remind us that if we put God on our team, we could attain most anything - maybe things might have turned out a little differently for some of us.
I am so thankful that my son understands that what is expected of him is that he seeks God’s will in everything he does. I am thankful that he is surrounded by Godly teachers who pray for him and friends who pray with him. I am grateful that he was able to participate in setting those goals and standards and has the desire to reach high and grab hold of his own personal dreams.
I am perfectly happy to be a funky “Child of the ‘70’s” and I am equally happy that times have changed and are different for my child. I expect remarkable things from this UNSTOPPABLE Class of 2011 and I hope I’m riding around in a restored ’74 Firebird listening to some Rod Stewart when I hear about it.
Those 70s.....I keep singing that Tinman song, but I cannot quite remember the words. Was it something like, "If I only had a shirt...."?
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