The Class of 2004 sets off into the world this month with commencements, leaving high schools across Maryland for grown-up lives ahead.
When they made the first passage on this journey and entered kindergarten, George Bush was president, a war against Iraq was just over and the Soviet Union was falling apart.
They entered high school with the millennium and are departing now with George W. Bush as president and another war with Iraq not quite over.
They have achieved great things as they have sought footing in this shifting landscape. For some, it was a fight for survival against streets and neighborhoods arrayed against them. Others found themselves living the dream this country cherishes: immigrants came seeking opportunity, and schools rewarded their toil and made them Americans.
And among them all, so many looking for their way, and finding it, making themselves, their parents, and their schools, proud. Here are a few of their stories:
OLUBUKOLA OJEWOYE Randallstown High School
She arrived from Nigeria nine years ago, speaking British English and having trouble understanding all those fast-talking Americans with their funny intonation.
At graduation, 18-year-old Olubukola Ojewoye addressed a crowd of 4,000 at the Baltimore Convention Center as the salutatorian of Randallstown High School's class of 2004. She has a 3.9 grade-point average, the only B on her transcript is from gifted and talented physics.
Through the terrorist attacks and war that dominated the headlines of their high school years, Randallstown's graduating seniors have had to cope with trauma closer to home: Their freshman year, classmate Christina Lennon died of bacterial meningitis. Junior year, classmate Shawn George was found fatally shot in the middle of a Northwest Baltimore street. And last month, four classmates were shot and wounded in the school parking lot.
Ojewoye's point to her fellow graduates: Don't let tragedy distract you from your goals.
"Set a goal and achieve it," she says, tossing out ideas for her speech in the Randallstown living room she shares with three younger siblings and her parents, a pharmacist and a counselor. "Don't let anything or anyone deter you."
Known to family and friends as "Bukky," Ojewoye is headed for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she has a full scholarship and a spot in the elite Meyerhoff scholars program for aspiring scientists and engineers.
She wants to finish her undergraduate work as fast as possible - the plan is to be in and out of UMBC in three years - so she can get to where she really wants to be: medical school.
Her goal is to be a neurosurgeon, but she has a backup. If neurosurgery would prevent her from raising a family and being active in her church, she'll go into thoracic surgery or another less time-consuming specialty instead. As she heads into the future, she is most concerned about the balance that women with careers must strike between work and home.
"If you don't have time for your family, things will fall apart," she says, her 7-year-old brother at her side. "Your family is the foundation of your life."
- Sara Neufeld
TIMOTHY J. FERGUSON South Carroll High School
Timothy J. Ferguson enters the U.S. Military Academy at West Point June 28, and the 18-year-old scholar, athlete, musician and graduate of South Carroll High School says he could not be better prepared. "I learn as much as I can," he says. "I work out every day and I have taken many military workshops."
He always envisioned a career in the military, and he began preparations early. The last few summer vacations have been filled with military seminars, marine survival and explosive ordinance diving training courses, flying lessons and a stint with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets. As he began his senior year, the only decision left was which branch of the service he would enter. His West Point appointment came in December.
"When I looked into the academics, I found the Army had more options," he says. "As far as career goes, I would rather be with an independent unit on the battlefield instead of on a big ship."
After Carroll Christian School, a private school affiliated with The Church of the Open Door, Ferguson transferred to South Carroll for high school. He made the honor roll his first semester and stayed there, played percussion in the band and lettered in wrestling.
"The public school system helped a lot with a lot of different classes," he says, "a strong foundation, solid friendships and a lot of good memories."
He remembers feeling hopeful entering high school in 2000. The Sept. 11 attacks "put a damper on my optimism but really firmed up my hopes for a military career," he says.
"As far as the country goes, I think as long as we look out for the general welfare of all human beings, we will be fine," he says. "I still feel really hopeful. I think I will really enjoy the Army and can easily see myself as a career officer."
- Mary Gail Hare
APRIL VOLKE Broadneck High School
