European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Etc it Over Here Katherine Steeger of Pitburg High school in Germany adjusts the Cap of fellow graduate Jennifer tafe. Sash Michael Abra Seager by Jimi Jones education writer they re anxious excited i Happy a and perhaps a bit frightened. Young men and women graduating High schools in Europe this month have mixed emotions about trading roughly 18 years of Parent provided comforts for the sudden thrust into a rapidly changing world. Quot it s exciting just hard to believe that it s Here Quot said Heather Brownell about her june 11 graduation from Aviano High school in Italy. Quot i Don t know if i m ready to grow up  Tamika Ruth is. Quot i m looking Forward to going where i want without having to Check in with someone first to ask permission,&Quot.said Ruth Aviano s senior class valedictorian. Quot i Don t have to eat healthy and i Don t have to exercise unless i want to. This is it. This is what we be worked for the last 12 years. We re  like 18-year-Olds Brownell and Ruth Many of this year s graduates have lived most of their teen age years on the european Side of the Atlantic Ocean. Some of those headed to stateside colleges and universities have reservations about starting anew far away from friends and family. Others Are counting the Days. A Quot i just can t wait Quot said Krishna Gidwani valedictorian at Wurzburg High school in Germany. It s the beginning of a Quot new  he s unafraid and awaiting Quot. A moment in life that s been a Long time coming. I be been anticipating graduation for so Long i m virtually checking off Days on  his class graduates june 15. Having spent about 16 of his 17 years in Germany Gidwani said he is looking his is a moment in life that s been a Long time coming. In be been anticipating graduation for so Long i m Vitu atly checking off Days on the Calendar a Kishna Gidwani Wurzburg High valedictorian Forward to changing his surroundings and doing things like Quot going to College meeting people experiencing new things finding out what the world is really  moving from life in department of defense dependents schools to studies at the California Institute of technology at Pasadena calif., will be Quot going to the opposite end of the spectrum Quot he said. Quot that will be really interesting for  Marc Graser has lived about 14 of his 18 years in Germany. He too is ready closer Loo move on for change. Quot. Togo to College then. Actually Start Fife is a great feeling Quot Graser said. Quot i have no regrets. I m excited to go off and do something new instead of parents and teachers telling you what to do the administration telling you which classes to take. You finally get to do what you want to  seniors graduating overseas schools relish thoughts of new lives a Many in the United states a but most say the bonuses of having lived and attended schools in Europe greatly outweigh those they would have experienced in stateside schools. A i a the Chance to Quot experience the european culture Quot was the most obvious Benefit Gidwani said. Quot in America our exposure. Would have been limited Quot he said unlike the Eye opening exposure to the european lifestyle seniors describe. Quot we be managed to get away from a Tot of the hang  of the american society Quot said Ruth who plans to study Law at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Quot there s much More open mindedness. That s really important in the generation that we re going to grow up in Quot said Ruth whose Early teen age years were spent in England. Brownell lived for three years in Spain before moving to Aviano. As with Many other students european life is generally the Only  knows. Quot it s the Way i be lived. I would t continued on Page 19 last graduations have extra dose of emotion it seems a lifetime ago a though it was Only. 1991 a that atm High school in Neu Ulm Germany became the first american High 1 school to shut its doors As a result of the current . Military draw Down in Europe. The first of the final graduation ceremonies at a closing school was As emotion packed and painful As a first birth. Speeches were Short and direct a an individual outpouring of gratitude respect for change and the future the love of family and a school to which they could never return. The tears just  turn off. Three More department of defense dependents schools High schools Are closing this year and the atmosphere at these graduations were or Are expected to be just As emotional As the first. V of yes there will be lots of tears a predicted Geri Wilson of next weeks graduation ceremony at the closing Brindisi elementary High schooling Italy. Lots sad. In be attended sixth through 12th Grade Here. This is it. This is where in be been Don t know any other school Quot said the 18-year-old who has attended the Brindisi school for seven years. It was 33 years ago that Brindisi opened its doors to american students. Wilson a senior class a the schools final one a graduates june 11, Only six of the 10 seniors that began the school year there will Don Cap and gown. What follows is Clear Wilson said. Within two to three Days after graduation Quot All but one of the six seniors will be gone she said. A it feels very strange. At first it was a tossup it Wasny to sure that it would close. Now people Are moving the most desks in a classroom is probably 15, teachers Are Busy and the students Are anxious to leave Quot said Wilson who will pursue studies in business accounting at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs a ooh gosh yes there were lots and lots of fears Quot at Oesterberg High schools final graduation ceremony said guidance Counselor Penni Ellis. Quot doubly emotional because its the last one. Doubly sad because we re closing but it was upbeat a she said of the May 22 ceremony in the Netherlands the 34 graduates Are Quot a real positive group of kids Quot from a Quot great Community Quot she said. Graduation speaker was k. Terry Dornbush the . Ambassador to the Netherlands who spoke to the seniors of being ambassadors and serving their countries Well she said. Quot that was a real Nice  Friday is the final Day for students at the Schoof which opened in August 1981. Berlin High schools senior class said its final farewells on saturday at the Schoneberger Rathaus in a 2 . Ceremony. A ten Davenport principal at Berwin said tuesday that it Quot went Well Quot with a Quot full House to witness the ceremony. Friday was the final Day of High school for the International senior class which represented eight countries. Today is the last Day of school for the rest of the students. A a cml Jones wednesday june 1, 1994 the stars and stripes 17