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'I came out of my shell in high school,' grad says

Robert C. Reed | Hickory Daily Record

Heather Kanupp, Sierra Keller and Katelyn Kanupp pause for a group shot.

By Ragan Robinson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: June 12, 2009

HICKORY - Some 290 students accepted diplomas from St. Stephens High School on Friday night at Catawba Valley Community College.

All of them have plenty to look forward to, from attending prestigious universities to raising families to finding a job in a faltering economy. Many, said Principal DeAnna Taylor, have already seen plenty.
Some, she said, are sole financial providers for their families. Some have battled chronic diseases. Some have lost loved ones. Some learned to speak English to get to this day. Some were the first on either side of their families to don a mortarboard and graduation gown.

Keondra Allred was the first to cross the stage.

Graduation marked the last time she'd be first at St. Stephens. Thanks to her "A" name, she's had enough of being first to present projects and give speeches. She's hoping for an Aldridge or an Adams in her classes when she starts Catawba Valley Community College in the fall.

Allred has a lot to learn to reach her goal. She wants to be a heart doctor. She already has at least one important lesson under her belt.

"I came out of my shell in high school," she said.

It's hard to believe, especially when she yells to the students in line behind her, "Why do y'all love me?" and tells everybody who'll listen she's going to be the first black person on stage.

But Allred insists there was a time she wouldn't speak up in U.S. history class discussions, even when they were about race and she was the only black student in the classroom.

Maybe, she said, it was because when people start getting on your nerves, you've got to speak up.

She isn't sure what happened to change her.

Life happened, Allred decided after thinking about it.

It will keep on happening, for her and for the other red-robed students who filed into the college's Multi-Purpose complex Friday.