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# Christina’s Grade 8 Grad
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/2008627christinas-grade-8-grad-html/
- Published: 2008-06-27T16:40:31.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:31:39.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, Family, Life, #DashHouseCom, #wp

[![Christina's Grade 8 Grad](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/2615412729_d5f8bb6494_m.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894177138@N01/2615412729?ref=dashhouse.com "View 'Christina's Grade 8 Grad' on Flickr.com")

I don’t know how it happened, but somehow we got old enough to have a daughter graduate from Grade 8\. That’s right, we now have a daughter who is about to enter high school. Scary.

I have mixed feelings about all the graduations that take place these days – graduating from kindergarten, grade 6, etc. But this was a bit of a milestone, and we had fun the other night watching her enjoy the occasion.

One of the highlights was hearing one of the teachers use a poem Christina had written to end her speech. With Christina’s permission, here’s the poem she wrote to mark the end of her time at Quest Alternative School.

reflect   
 upon the waters  
 in which I’ve traveled,   
 where I’ve been

I just finished  
 not a quest   
 but a part of the journey

it is not the end  
 but the end of the beginning   
 there is still a ways to go  
 but I’ve finished  
 being a curious wide eyed kid  
 I am making a transition  
 to a ever wondering teenager

I am making the transition   
 past elementary  
 past that small island  
 onto the next stage of my life  
 my journey  
 my quest

A part of my heart  
 will stay at the island  
 will stay in my childhood  
 will stay at this tiny school  
 no matter how far I travel  
 how much longer I have to go

I am prepared to move on  
 to face the next part of my quest  
 my life, my all  
 but I still shed a tear  
 at the thought of leaving,  
 the thought of each friendship here  
 might slowly fade

but I still have the knowledge   
 to move through out my journey  
 and carry on my quest  
 this is not the end  
 but the end of the beginning