Bay High grads polished like sea glass

A note for the Bay High School Class of 2022 ...

Just down the road from us resides the Bay Boat Club, which is home to waves, and sea glass. Sea glass are tiny shards of chemically and physically weathered glass from the tumbling waves that are found along our Bay Village coastline. These pieces of glass are all so different. Different shapes, shades, sizes. Different. And beautiful because they are so different. We live in Bay. All of us, like sea glass, are different in so many ways. But, the memories inside us create lasting impressions in our minds forever.

Here is my story of how we became sea glass throughout our time at Bay Schools.

The first few waves were gentle and innocent at Normandy and Westerly. Full of songs and colored carpet patches. Our hearts were light and clear. Our change to adulthood began in grade five, or middle school. The fifth wave.

Wave 5: We were little pieces of glass. Pieces of glass jettisoned through the storm, tsunami, and typhoon all at once. We were upheaved from the comforting colored carpet squares of Normandy, to class changes and lockers in Bay Middle School. The current kept us moving through the year as we learned to navigate the cafeteria. We floated down the hallways with these new shards of freedom.

Wave 6: Now, our moldable pieces begin to feel sometimes ruptured, nooked, crannied, or floating. Trying to find comfort in the sand of classrooms. Without the sand, the water is too dense, pressing against our thin shells, trying to force us to conform. So we looked for strength and protection by swimming with our teachers. They carried us through the sand. And Camp NuHop.

Wave 7 and 8: Our teachers taught us to stay sturdy on our own. Through any wave. We accepted the challenge and read new books. We ventured on our eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C.

Wave 9: High School. The mending came. Our pieces' ragged edges began to join themselves in healing, connecting the split that was once larger than the shard itself. We knew that it was time to root in the sand, but needed to fortify a relationship with the split, and the ground first. So, we endured block scheduling.

Wave 10: The year that changed everything. COVID tried to silence us with its darkness below the sky, but we connected with our teachers on Zoom, and made new memories that cultivated new life. We did it together.

Wave 11: As we grew with aspiration, we took college aptitude tests and wrote essays, balancing AP courses and free time. A new hand of support would come and keep us grounded until another storm were to strike again. Experience. In fact, we found so much inspiration in the school and community, we finally started surfing on our own to the shoreline.

As we made our way to the shoreline, we were hit by a storm that caused us to lose a beautiful piece of glass, Sabrina Noelle DuPrey. You have made a beautiful, lasting impression on our lives. You will forever be remembered and a part of us.

Wave 12: The final wave. After passing through all the waves, our little pieces of glass found what was needed.
Patience to grieve.
Patience to stay grounded.
Patience to be found.
Through it all.

If we hold this patience throughout each and every wave that carries us to the shore or the ground, we will be able to let life live for us. To flow.

Wherever we float to, we will find a place to be found together. Each person has a defining trait that is a piece of the mosaic of the world’s faces. A piece of precious sea glass. It is up to the people in this world to allow those pieces to be seen in all their true glory: scratched, shaded, chipped, torn, and dated. A mosaic without differences would just be a singular tile meant to be glazed over by the human eye. The signet details within cultivate the stories of lives that continue living.

Wherever we float to, we will find a place to be found together. Seniors, you are a part of a mosaic of 205 colorful, unique, spectacular pieces of sea glass. The genuine, true picture of the Class of 2022. You have been weathered by the highest of seas, you have been polished by the brightest of laughs and sunshine. You have been unapologetic. You have been found. And whenever you feel lost, or stuck in the sand below, know that you will always have the strength to float. Back to shore. Back to your home. Back to your heart.

Read More on Poetry & Prose
Volume 14, Issue 12, Posted 10:05 AM, 06.21.2022