Not just graduation day

Deepa Bharath

Tania Lazcano had streaked her hair red and wore bright, red

lipstick. She even sported a little red jewel on her pierced nose.

Clearly, the 17-year-old mom was excited to be wearing the red

gown that had almost eluded her.

Lazcano was forced to go to continuation school two years ago when

she had her daughter.

“They make them wear purple gowns there,” Lazcano said. “But I

decided in my senior year that I wanted to graduate from Estancia.

And I wanted the red gown.”

It meant working as a preschool teacher for her ROP class and

doing homework between diaper changes and feeds.

But Lazcano did it.

On Thursday afternoon, she lined up with her classmates, beaming,

as she waited to walk on to the grassy stadium grounds where a high

school diploma and cheers from friends and family awaited her.

“It’s not just my graduation day,” Lazcano said. “My daughter is

graduating with me, too. I told myself I was going to do this so my

daughter can have a better life.”

She plans to become a preschool teacher and enroll at Orange Coast

College.

The day signified a new beginning and a landmark of sorts for the

young people.

For Mohsen Nassrri, it felt like “leaving a little boat and taking

a big ship.”

“It’s a whole new life from here on,” said Nassrri, who is all set

to pursue a bachelor’s in biological sciences at UC Riverside.

It’s also the first time he’d be away from home, he said.

“It’s exciting,” Nassrri said.

For parents, it was a day to bask in the glory of their children’s

achievements. Tim and Jan Huisking were celebrating their daughter

Carmen’s graduation.

“She was in special ed,” Jan Huisking said. “Getting up and going

to school every day was a challenge for her. It hasn’t been easy.

It’s a special day for her and for us.”

Daniel Rivera said he hopes his daughter’s graduation will inspire

her to aim higher in life.

“This is what opens the door to her future,” he said. “If you

don’t have education, you don’t have anything.”

Estancia social studies teacher Dave Knott, who has taught in the

school for 37 years, said teachers are always worried about whether

their kids are prepared to face the world.

That said, he added, not a thing has changed about this day in all

these years.

“The whole world may have changed,” Knott said. “But graduation

day is just the same. And kids are still kids.”