Seventeen young men and women draped in bright gold and rich purple walked forward together to begin the next chapter of their lives.

St. Joseph Central Catholic High School held its 87th commencement Friday evening. The pews were filled as family and friends gathered to watch the graduates say goodbye to their high school days.

Shelby Campbell said she will miss her time at St. Joe, but with four of her classmates joining her at Miami University, she will not be alone.

“I have an aunt who went there and she really liked it, so I thought it’d be good for me,” Campbell said. “Besides, there are five of us going there so it’ll be really cool to see everyone.”

Campbell said she will pursue her degree in elementary education. No matter what looked appealing at the time, Campbell said she has always come back to wanting to be an educator.

While Campbell and almost a third of her graduating class will be attending the same Ohio school, Ronnie Brown is one of the few leaving the state. After visiting the University of North Carolina-Asheville, he said he knew that was where he wanted to study pharmacy.

“I really like it. Asheville is great,” Brown said. “I’m really excited to leave, but I’ll miss how everyone is connected here in a sense of community.”

That feeling of community is something both Brown and Campbell said they will miss when they leave. They said St. Joe has been an amazing experience for them because the small class sizes make for a great learning environment.

However, a small school also means less variety of classes, Campbell said. Still, the graduate said she will miss having so much one-on-one with her teachers.