Overcoming adversity means different things to different people.

For some, this means you have to try as hard as possible to come out on top for any goal you have set for yourself, no matter what the outcome will be.

Sometimes you have to have faith in who you are…

I was shocked when there were neighborhood kids knocking on the door, asking to have her boss them around again…

Sometimes she had to be a second mother to her sisters…

Statements such as these were how proud parents identified their students Monday night.

The 2015 graduating class consisted of more than just supportive parents and family who had the privilege to honor their senior.

As the auditorium filled with relatives of these remarkable students, underclassmen from the culinary program served guests from the local restaurant, La Magnolia, who catered the event.

This gathering gave those in attendance the opportunity to socialize in their last few days as Mustangs and parents of Mustangs, before heading off to the real world of college campuses, freedom from parents and dealing with college professors.

“This is a tight knit group,” Associate Principal of Curriculum and Instruction Mrs. Holly Ray said.

She got thrown off the bus a few times, landing in the principal’s office, mostly for fighting with her brother…

Watching and waiting with your little girl in the hospital, you just don’t know what the outcome will be…

She doesn’t complain and wants to help others who might have this condition…

She lost her most supportive system a few years ago…

He had overcome personal issues to get this far…

And if he sets his mind to it, you know he will do it…

Taking photos of their friends, remembering old times, most graduates had set their goal to attend Texas A & M University in College Station, thereby keeping the color maroon as ‘theirs’ a bit longer.

As the tradition dictates, after dinner, parents recognized and praised their student with speeches, jokes, poems, hugs and tears as each graduate was acknowledged as a top senior. After the praising, students posed for a memory shot and were given a parting gift from the school to reminisce about their days as a Mustang.

Embarrassing tidbits from parents who volunteered information for being outspoken as young children, recognizing their faith, fighting with their siblings, coming out of their shell, and for the volunteer work exhibited to help others creates the unique mark these individuals have already developed to be successful in the future.

“So, so proud to be his dad, and I look forward to the adult relationship we will have…” senior Houston Gary’s dad said.

Praises filled the banquet as parents also gave thanks to friends and administrators for who continuously acted as guides throughout their child’s formative years in high school.