Veteran Journalist Hamil Harris Has Covered Decades Of Graduation Seasons. Now, As His Own Son, Is the Last Of His Children To Walk Across the Stage, The Moment Is Bittersweet.

High School Graduation Produces Joyful Memories And Plenty Of Tears.

By Hamil R. Harris

The Infinity Center at the University of Maryland was a jubilant gathering of thousands as family and friends joined the Parkdale High School Graduating Class of 2025.

My heart was filled with tearful emotions as my son, Isaiah Harris, and more than 500 graduates dressed in black robes and walked into the College Park basketball arena and completed 12 years of public education.

Photos are usually easy to get, but when it's your child that you’re shooting, it’s hard. My hands were shaking, and my face was moist with tears. This was my plight on Monday, June 2. I knew it would be weeks before the actual day, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Parkdale Principal Tasha Graves reminded the students that while many will pursue college, trade schools, the military, and various careers, they’ll only graduate high school once.

“Success is measured by the impact you make on the world,” said Graves, adding that it's time for the graduates to chart their course for the future. “Eagles fly alone, pigeons flock together, you are an Eagle. Accept success, it is just the beginning.”

As I listened to the commencement, I sat next to Tom Leibrand, my dear friend of more than 40 years. He drove me to campus. In the summer of 1984, Tom drove me to a job interview from the Old Leonardtown Dormitory.

Tom, who is retired from the Department of the Treasury, is a deacon at the University Park Church of Christ. He sat next to Rob Nunley, a retired Fleet Maintenance supervisor in Fairfax County, and my old roommate.

As a minister at the Glenarden Church of Christ, I preached from the book of Genesis and how God heard the cries of Ishmael, whose mother was rescued by God.

In Genesis 16:13, Hagar told God after Abraham abandoned her, “You are the God who sees me…I have now seen[c]the One who sees me.”

In Genesis 21, God told Hagar, “Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.”

As parents, our job is to respond to the cries of our children. I am so grateful that Taunya always answered the cries of our four children, Aria, Alicia, Alana, and Isaiah, when I couldn't.

As my health began to fail, I was very grateful that my former wife moved back home to take care of Isaiah. Even when his grade reports were not always good, neither she nor his teachers or counselors ever gave up on him.

When I asked him how he felt, Isaiah started to sing lyrics from a gospel song recorded by artist Marvin Sapp. “He saw the best in me.”

I burst into tears because Isaiah never had bus service, and for the last two years, I couldn't drive because my right toe was amputated, and the muscle in my left foot was removed.

Throughout his life and education, Isaiah missed many days in school because he had chronic respiratory issues and several bouts with COVID, and many days wanted to give up, but he didn't.

Isaiah is the last of our four children, and my three daughters performed many tasks in addition to my neighbors, other family, and colleagues.

Even though he wanted to play football, he had to focus on summer school and Saturday classes to pull up his grades. He had bilateral knee surgery to repair severe bow legs that made it hard to walk because of his weight.

But through it all, my son stepped up and fought hard to graduate. He lost more than 60 pounds and volunteered to be on the stage crew in the drama department’s production of “Cinderella.”

Following graduation, Taunya and I prayed together, and Isaiah leaned into the window and started to sing a gospel song written by Marvin Sapp. “He saw the best in me when everyone else around could only see the worst in me.”

As Isaiah and others crossed the stage, there were many adults in the Infinity Center crying tears of joy to mark this special moment. While some college graduations were filled with shouting and joy, I was impressed by how well most students behaved.

At the end of the ceremony, the Parkdale Concert Choir sang “End of the Road” by Boyz to Men, and “It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

While graduation was over, Isaiah’s siblings and friends, today marks a new beginning filled with precious memories that will last a lifetime.

I was so happy until I sat in my front yard in my rollator, like I did in 2020 when Alana graduated from Parkdale. But tears started when I got a graduation program and found his name: “Isaiah Hamil Harris.”

More tears started to flow. Isaiah was spotted on the Jumbotron. I started trying to get his photo, and I nailed it. In the last year, I had been worried about grades, cuts in the Department of Education, and even tornadoes.

But then it happened. The diplomas in shiny Black folders were even handed out. It was a special day that I will never forget and a day that marked a new beginning for an old reporter, thank you, God.