I have been to more Medina High School graduations than I can count. They all kind of blend together, to be honest – the processions, the addresses, “Pomp and Circumstance” on loop.

It’s a bit of a played tradition, one that could use some updating if you ask me, though one obviously very special to those directly involved.

Before my days of covering the hoards of Bees walking across a stage for The Post, which I’ve done many times over the years, I actually got my start covering commencement when I was still in elementary school, strangely enough. My oldest brother, Matt, was then a high school intern with Medina TV (channels 201 and 37 for Armstrong customers), working with General Manager Jarrod Fry and Operations Director Miles Reed. Both are still there today keeping the local cable access going. Matt has since gone to a very successful career in sports and entertainment broadcasting.

Jarrod and Miles were always nice enough to let me tag along to a variety of community broadcasts, namely Bees athletic contests and graduations, due to my interest in media production. My other older brother, Ty, also got into the mix quite often. Eventually, Jarrod and Miles actually put me to work. Me, just a little kid, a part of the crew, manning cameras, running switchers and multi-channel audio boards and being a part of the process from setup to teardown. There was a span for a while where I was working commencement with Jarrod and Miles almost every May, with the exception of both Matt’s and Ty’s respective graduations.

The experience was priceless, quite a bit of that coming from covering MHS graduations at James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron. I made sure to pay my respect to Jarrod and shake his hand prior to graduation’s start this past Saturday as I saw him setting up a camera for the day’s shoot, a full-circle way of saying thanks for the invaluable foundation that has helped lead me into the media-related career I am in today.

So by the time it was my turn to graduate from MHS, like most things when I was just an 18-year-old punk, I was pretty much over it. My memories from commencement include stepping out of line to smoke celebratory Black & Mild cigars with some of my buddies while a number of teachers glanced in disgust but couldn’t really do anything about it since our graduation requirements were already met. I also remember spending most of the ceremony – it wasn’t nearly the super-efficient, hour-long herding it’s become today – texting on my phone trying to figure out what the post-graduation move was that night. I didn’t take it seriously. I was ready to move on, an expression I could see on the faces of many of the 579 graduates of 2017, but certainly not all of them.

I got a real kick last Saturday while watching the kids file out of the staging area – hidden from the audience by only a curtain, but audibly hyping themselves up like a football team in the locker room before a big game – to take their seats on the arena floor. Administrators and teachers stood atop the stairwells on both ends of the arena with cups for the kids to spit out chewing gum into, something I’m sure my mom wish would have been enforced during my graduation because I’m pretty certain she’s still ticked off to this day that I chewed gum throughout the whole ceremony.

I was impressed with some of the messages given during this year’s commencement. They weren’t the usual, for the most part. The messages were a little more poignant and realistic, rightfully so, especially those of first-year Superintendent Aaron Sable. My hat goes off to him, first and foremost, for giving the audience a laugh at his own expense by humorously acknowledging a minor Twitter controversy he was involved in earlier in the school year, but more importantly, I enjoyed that he kept things real, a far cry from the then-superintendent during my and my brother’s graduations who was famous for recycling the same egocentric anecdotes year after year after year.

Sable said, “I recognize that many of our graduates are probably sitting in their seats right now questioning their freedoms, or lack of, in high school. I know you did not feel free when you were sent to Mr. Brenner because your shorts were too short, or you received a detention because of tardies to school, but you are always free to make your own decisions. Your freedom to choose may have come with consequences, but you were free to make the choice, accept the consequences and hopefully learn from the results. Freedom and character go hand in hand. Making choices, right or wrong, builds character through consequences, good or bad. My hope is that you will find, as you eventually move beyond the walls of Medina High School, that the character you have built through your choices helps you be a better person in life.”

Commencement speaker Elizabeth Thies, one of the MHS students of the year, also made several mature points in her speech, which I’m sure resonated with many of her classmates.

“Just know that life is going to throw you curveballs because that is what life is meant to do. If we were put on this planet to live struggle-free, face no challenges, have no tough decisions to make, feel no fear and have no single concern for our life and our future, would it even be worth living? The path of life is not a straight shot. It’s a bumpy ride and everyone knows that, so don’t stress.”

Well said, Mr. Sable and Miss Thies.

A hearty congratulations to the 579 making up the class of 2017. Just remember, in case of any of you are reading this (because if there’s one thing kids these days love, it’s obviously print journalism), always try your hardest, don’t let the inevitable failures get you down and never take yourself too seriously.