With more than an hour remaining before he would give his speech honoring the exchange students who were graduating from Warren Central High School, Brian McHan, one of the 255 seniors to get a diploma Friday night, was wondering how it would go over.

“I started it last night and finished it this morning,” he said. “ It’s going to run about five minutes; I wonder if anyone will remember it. I don’t remember what was said last year.”

While McHan, who was graduating with high honors, wondered about his speech, classmates Kelsea Kline and Shandrea Wallace were getting in some last minute conversation.

“It feels great,” Kline said when she was asked how it felt to be graduating. “It was a hard four years.”

Kline is headed to Jackson State University, and plans to earn an ROTC scholarship and enter the military after college.

“I’m excited; I’ve finally accomplished something,” said Wallace, who is headed for the University of Southern Mississippi where she plans to major in criminal justice. She said she plans to eventually go to law school and specialize in criminal law.

Amy Willis is going to Hinds Community College on scholarship to major in early childhood education.

“This is a great accomplishment,” she said. “It’s something we all can be proud of.”

Kailyn McCarley sported more than just the trappings of a high honor with distinction graduate. Her hair was died purple and accented by her closely cropped blonde hair.

“I figured I’d make a change from pink,” she said. “I’m going to LSU, so purple fits in. I’m going to run track and cross-country for LSU. When I visited the school, they suggested I wear purple.”

While the graduates flocked in the halls of the school and made the final adjustments to their gowns, parents, other relatives and friends made their way to the stadium seats under a cloudy sky providing a cooling breeze and a threat of rain. Among that group was Hattie Hill, wearing a T-shirt with the message, “I can’t keep calm. My granddaughter is graduating” in honor of granddaughter Lamaris Gray.

“She’s my oldest grandbaby,” Hill said. “I’m gonna yell (when her name is called).”

The graduates approached the field through an honor guard with swords and flags, taking their place amidst cheers and encouragement from family and well-wishers.

“There is a special bond among us in this class,” said valedictorian Madison Kendall. “We are like a big family.

“All of us will take with us the knowledge and memories we have gathered from Warren Central High School. Warren Central had prepared up for anything that will come at us.”

“Warren Central class of 2016, we are extremely proud of you and what you have accomplished over the past 13 years,” said Bryan Pratt, Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees president. “We can’t wait to see what you will accomplish in the future.”

He reminded the graduates to remember they has someone pushing them to succeed, telling them, “You have one more assignment, go and find that person, look them in the eye and thank them.”

He recalled his own graduation from Warren Central almost 30 years ago, adding, “I blinked twice and here I am.

“I know time seemed to go by slowly as you went through life to get to this point, but don’t blink (time goes fast).”