SELMA — Forty-six teenagers walked to the center of the gym and threw their caps into the air, instantly becoming former students of Meadowview Christian School.

“It takes forever to get here, and then it’s gone in a second,” Robert Rose, one of the graduates, said. “I’m glad, though. I don’t have to worry about getting in trouble or being late any more.”

Adrienne Hitt, the class valedictorian, said she had mixed emotions.

“I’m glad it’s here, but I’ll be leaving all my friends,” Hitt said.

Hitt and salutatorian Landon Lee Nichols Jr addressed the standing room only crowd in the Meadowview gym and talked about the value of second chances and importance of teachers and parents in their lives.

“I enjoyed the whole process of it,” Hitt said. “I’m not the person that’s going to get up and talk. I’m pretty shy.”

The graduates then received their diplomas and a yellow rose symbolizing the love of their parents before moving their tassels. Some received cheers and whistles some gave a thumbs-up to the crowd and one posed slyly with the rose in his mouth.

The ceremony brought only the first phase of education to a close for some students, and some parents were already thinking about the next step.

“You see them grow up and now they’re starting another journey in their lives,” Carol Mott, graduate Judson Mott’s mother, said. “He’s still got another four years to go at least.”