A bucket of wishes for summer reading
By: Pam Koharchik
I know, I know. I announced my annual sabbatical in the last column and here I am typing again. However, there was good reason for me to get back into the school zone after the last day of school: wishes.
You see this year’s graduation theme was "My Wish," based on a Rascal Flats song of the same name. Each year, the students exchange an object or token with the school board president as they receive their diploma folder. This year’s idea was for them to write down a wish for the future on a piece of folded paper.
During one of the senior meetings, senior Joe Gellman asked Dr. Nagy what would happen to those wishes. Dr. Nagy replied that they would probably be discarded. That didn’t set well with me, so as I found myself on stage during the ceremony as senior class co-advisor, I grabbed the bucket of wishes before I left and sat down with my co-advisor Marc Angelaccio, and we read them.
This is a summary of what we read.
I guess first and foremost, I should point out that we were pleasantly surprised that only two were crude. With more than 260 kids graduating, the odds were pretty high that it would be worse; they are teenagers after all.
The vast majority of wishes were to be successful. Some mentioned specific careers, like "forensic anthropologist," while others just wanted big families with beautiful children. Many mentioned money, and having a boatload of it. A large portion wished good fortune to their classmates, a very nice thing to read.
But foremost, the Class of 2007 just wants to be happy in life.
A few of the wishes concerned school rules. "I wish to get rid of the red zone and lockdown" read one, referring to the area in the halls with the most congestion and the rule to spend only three seconds passing through it, as well as the end of the year practice of keeping students in their rooms and limiting the ability to organize a senior prank. As a matter of fact, "I wish that the school was not so psychotic about a senior prank," made the list.
There were wishes for those who could not be there. One was a wish for a fellow classmate who could not attend graduation due to his recovery from a car accident, "I wish to be successful and happy in life, and I wish the same for Bart [Chudzik] since he can’t be here to wish that for himself." One concerned a departed parent: "I wish my father lived to see me graduate."
Some wishes were global or environmental in nature. Many wished for world peace, although I think Mr. Angelaccio’s suggestion to kids without specific wishes prompted that influx. One wished "everyone believed in God." One wished for "more trees!" Another student hoped "that I will climb El Cap [El Capitan, a famous rock formation in Yosemite National Park] this summer."
One wish was simpler: "I wish the waves are good this weekend."
A few wishes related to the ceremony itself. "I wish we had more practice before this ceremony," an anxious student wrote. "I wish this was outside" scored a few votes, a comment on the fact that the ceremony was held inside TCNJ for the first time ever, rather than on the grounds of AHS. It was, by the way, a gorgeous, picture perfect evening, which probably helped prompt those votes.
One was more to the point, " I wish for traditions at Allentown to stand." One was a wish concerning the friendships now felt, "I wish that all of the people who mattered most these past 4 years would stay in touch and disregard the distance between us."
Finally, there were wishes about the wishes. "I wish that all these wishes are put into a collage for everyone to see." Hope this comes close. "I wish to play sports in high school for one more year and that these [wishes] mattered." Lastly, "I wish wishes weren’t discarded."
At least one wish has come true.
Pam Koharchik is a teacher at Allentown High School.

