NATCHEZ — The crowd cheering on Natchez High School graduates packed the stadium at Tom F. Williams Memorial Stadium Friday night.

Friends and family of all ages proudly reached their arms up in the stands, holding homemade signs with names or nicknames of seniors they came to support as the 218 graduates processed onto the field wearing blue robes and medals dangling from the necks.

At least 15 of those people secured a parking spot and came to the ceremony, some of them all the way from Texas, to support Lashanice Jones.

Jones stood in line on the football field before the graduates’ procession, straightening the tie of classmate Donnell “Bubba” Kelly and feeling a little bit nervous.

“I’m like two seconds away from crying right now,” Jones said. “I’ve been waiting for this (day) for a long time.”

Jones said her graduation was the end of one journey in high school and beginning another journey that she will start at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, where she plans to study medical laboratory technology.

Jones said she felt excited about the ceremony and hoped the walking procession went smoothly, especially since she was standing on the grass in white pumps.

“My fingers are crossed that I don’t fall. (The high heels) are so high right now,” she said.

Kelly, with a freshly straightened tie, said many members of his large family were rooting for him in the stands, but he could handle the pressure.

“I’m happy, not that nervous,” he said.

While parts of high school were tough at times, Kelly said by putting his mind to his goals, he was able to do well and graduate.

Kelly said he would always remember Friday night.

During the ceremony, the crowd quieted as salutatorian Terika Tillman delivered her speech reminding her class that they will now leave a world of comfort and travel to a world of the unknown after graduation.

While the unknown world can be challenging, Tillman said she thought the NHS class of 2011 could face those difficulties.

“Remember tough times do not last; tough people do,” she said.

Tillman gave her class a charge to use their talents to make the world a better, safer place and warned them not to let bad habits hold them back from success.

“In the beginning, you make your habits. In the end, your habits make you,” she said.

Valedictorian Joseph Perry Jr. said dreams do not have to stay merely dreams because they are only a step away from being attained.

“Let us go out in this world and use our uniqueness to make a difference,” Perry said.

Class of 2011 vice president Sydney Brooks said she hoped her class would take all the lessons they have learned to be successful adults.

She said among her classmates, she saw future lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers and computer analysts, to name a few.

“Don’t count us out; keep your eye on the class of 2011,” she told school administration, staff and the Natchez-Adams School Board.

School board member David Troutman said the ceremony this year marked the gradation of the same class who was the last group of ninth graders he had as a teacher at Natchez High four years ago before beginning a new job in Concordia Parish.

“It’s very satisfying, seeing them graduate,” Troutman said. “You hope (as a teacher) you had a little influence.”

NHS Athletic Director Fred Butcher said he will remember the athletes he knew from the class of 2011 as part of a special class.

“The majority of (the students in the class of 2011) were always well disciplined and polite, that says a lot,” Butcher said. “That will carry them a long way.”

Graduate Michael Johnson said what he will miss most are the individuals whom made up the class of 2011.

“The different characters,” he said. “I have high hopes for me and the rest of my class.”