Twenty years ago, the class of 1991 walked across the stage to accept their high school diplomas to bring a chapter in their lives to a close and begin the next. The chapter that came to a close was a fairly predictable chapter that contained relatively the same plot for everyone involved with a few minor differences here and there.

With the class motto, “With yesterday’s knowledge we challenge tomorrow, for tomorrow we lead and today we follow,” we headed out the door of the friendly confines of Burke Central High School blissfully unaware of what lie ahead. As our history and shop teacher, Leonard Savelkoul, always said, “Ignorance is bliss.”

One day during class when several of us were expressing how we couldn’t wait to get out of this place Mr. Savelkoul told us there would come a day when “this place” is exactly where you will wish you could be because life outside of these walls isn’t all rainbows and puppies. As usual most of us blew this off as crazy old teacher talk. As usual Mr. Savelkoul was right.

The words of some other crazy old person also stick in mind. I don’t remember who said it, but I remember right after graduation he came up to me in the post-graduation congratulatory hand shaking, hug, sniffle, and cry lineup and said, “Congratulations, now you’re one of us.” I laughed when he said it but felt a definite “thud” deep inside. I think the thud was the rainbow collapsing on the puppy.

Where did we get our class motto? I have no idea. I know we didn’t Google “class mottos” because in 1991 Googling was not an option. Heck the internet wasn’t an option in 1991. As a matter of fact, I think you could be arrested for “Googling” in 1991. No internet, cell phones the size of toaster ovens and while some were still fighting the switch from 8-track to cassette we were on the verge of making the switch from cassette to compact disk.

As far as class mottos go, it’s got a pretty good message. I’m sure in our infinite teenage wisdom that was why we settled on it. I remember it took up a lot of space on the curtain behind the stage and whoever had to make the tinfoil covered letters probably would have been pleased to have a shorter motto. It would have been easier to project the motto onto the curtain with PowerPoint I suppose but in 1991 you could get suspended from school for “power pointing.”

So instead, the letters were all carefully stenciled, cut out, covered in foil, and then tossed in the dumpster behind the school. With a thud they landed in a heap under the fading rainbow while the puppy raised a leg to mark the beginning of our lives as “one of them.” One of them expected to go forth and be a productive member of society.

For the most part I think we were able to accomplish that task. Although that task may not have been as glamorous as we had imagined 20 years ago, I think the class of 1991 has done alright as “one of them” and even managed to enjoy a few rainbows and puppies along the way.