The class of 2024 wrapped up graduations around Lexington County. This year’s class said goodbye to 12 years of school, a freshman year taken over by COVID-19 and lessons to carry with them throughout their lives.

Lexington County schools have well over 45,000 students altogether, according to their respective websites or educational data. This doesn’t include the charter schools and private schools. With so many students, there are plenty of cap and gown stories. The Chronicle talked with several students to hear what they had to say about their educational journey thus far along with their hopes for their future.

From High School to Semper Fi

Ruby Gonzalez Armenta graduated from Airport High School within three years but ever since eighth grade, she knew she wanted to join the military.

“I like the feeling like I’m doing something for a bigger part of something bigger. There’s a lot of opportunity from being in the military,” said Armenta who explains she wants to be a “better leader” and enjoys challenges and is also looking forward to traveling.

Armenta understands joining the military comes with risks but as she says, “If it’s something you want to do or if you’re contemplating it just go for it. Life’s about taking risks. You won’t know until you try it.”

Armenta will be joining the Marines when she turns 18 in September since she has to have parental permission as a minor. She says that her parents won’t sign papers so once she’s 18, she’s going to boot camp and seeing what the military life holds for her.

“I’m excited about boot camp. I know it’s hard especially in the Marines but I’m excited to work on myself on being better. That’s what excites me,” she says.

Local Marine recruiter SSgt. Linda CruzSandoval said, “When I met Ruby, she was a very respectful young lady that knew exactly what she wanted out of her life after high school. Ruby is joining the Marines after high school which isn’t something that most kids want to do… Ruby is joining the Marines because she wants to be a better leader for herself and her family.”

The Marines wasn’t her first choice she explains. Initially she thought of the Air Force but in chatting with the recruiter about values, the recruiter explained her values matched up ideally with the Marines.

Armenta’s grades were great and she said she graduated with honors with distinction. She ranked number 14 of around 200 seniors. She graduated early because she didn’t want to just have one class her senior year. During her final year of high school she also served as a guidance teacher’s assistant helping to serve in the guidance office.

In the military she wants to do something in the combat field and she still wants to go to college but she isn’t quite sure of what she wants to study yet. She is looking forward to traveling though having lived in Cayce and West Columbia her whole life.

Leaving Ukraine for Safety

Kateryna Mazur and her parents have been in South Carolina for almost two years after leaving their home country of Ukraine. The journey from Ukraine to South Carolina was anything but easy but Mazur is grateful for her new home and for graduating high school in Lexington-Richland District 5.

She graduated from Chapin High School and says her graduation ceremony was probably the “most memorable” moment.

“I always watched American films and was amazed at how their ceremonies were held with robes and such square caps. Our graduation is completely different and I was glad that my childhood dream of studying and graduating in the USA became a reality,” said Mazur.

It was Mazur’s English teacher at Chapin, Tess Pratt, who shared Mazur’s story after each student presented their own lecture after reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Pratt said Mazur spoke of her life and any challenges she faced along the way.

The situation in Ukraine is less than ideal but Mazur points out that sponsors who attended Chapin Baptist Church helped the Mazur family their first year in the country.

“Thanks to Chapin Baptist Church, we were able to settle here,” she said. The sponsors helped them with necessary documents, vaccinations, schools and even financial support while her parents found work.

“Our family is immensely grateful to the entire team of our sponsors and the church for this help,” Mazur states.

Mazur says that when the war began in her home country of Ukraine, her family went to Moldova to visit her grandmother. She says they stayed there for “three weeks.”

“After that, our friends invited us to Switzerland and we moved there. Dad was not with us and it was very difficult to take him to us due to mobilization but we still managed to do it. My parents found information about a program for Ukrainians that makes a humanitarian password in the USA (called Uniting for Ukraine),” Mazur explains.

It took about a month but through the program they found sponsorship from people who attend Chapin Baptist Church.

Mazur still has plenty of friends and family back in Ukraine but social networks and Facetime help keep them connected through the physical distance.

As for her future, Mazur has plans to attend Spartanburg Methodist College where she says she will study art for a couple of years. After her first two years there, she then wants to transfer and study web design.

Catapulting through Life’s Grievances

Billy Bishay graduated from Chapin High School this year but his life’s journey has taken him from east to west before landing in Lexington County.

He’s attending The Citadel this fall while studying exercise science.

“I wanted more of a challenge and I know The Citadel is a good school and you develop close bonds with others,” said Bishay, who plans to go into physical therapy.

His journey has had its fair share of challenges but Bishay has persevered through any of the adversities thrown along his path.

“My mom passed away from colon cancer when I was 10,” said Bishay who tells The Chronicle his older brother adopted him and his sister, Melina Bishay. Billy is the youngest of the sibling trio.

Bishay lived with his brother and sister although with his brother being in the U.S. Army it mainly boiled down to him and his sister. He says that his sister is his best friend and they’ve built a bond with all they’ve endured.

“My sister is my biggest support because of all we went through,” says Bishay, who says he focused on school and sports without having to worry about everything that was happening.

Bishay lived in Fort Bragg, N.C. with his siblings while in fifth grade. His brother would be deployed so he and his sister moved to Tennessee with a friend. Bishay’s brother came back from deployment so they were together but they ended up moving again to Fairbanks, AK.

His brother left the military and that’s when they moved to South Carolina. He spent the first half of his high school years at River Bluff High School before he had to transfer to Chapin High.

Moving around was definitely far from easy and he describes it as “hard” but  it made him better at making friends since he had to adjust faster.

As for dealing with the adjustment he says, “I really didn’t know what to do. It does get easier with time and I just used to not having (my mom) around. Time is really the best thing that helps. I don’t know if you can prevent the grieving but it definitely gets easier,” Bishay says. 

Among other things, he also dealt with the side effects of Covid his freshman year and some of his sophomore year. He says his GPA dropped because he was basically by himself and didn’t have anyone to help keep him on track so he fell behind. However he was able to pick things up.

He says he and his sister learned to raise themselves growing up.

“I had to learn to get through life without my mom who I counted on for everything,” he says.