To this day, I cannot remember the speeches given by the valedictorian or salutatorian at my high school graduation. There are not a lot of items from that evening I remember in detail, but I do remember the feeling of excitement, anticipation and accomplishment.

There is also that song I remember. You know the song I am talking about; the one that is played as the graduates walk in and again as they leave.

Sir Edward Elgar composed the song ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ in 1901 and until I started writing this column, I was unaware the song had been adopted in the United States as ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and even had lyrics.

The song has become synonymous with graduations and will be dusted off once again now that we are approaching high school and college graduations. Much like ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ has a season.

While we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2015, and rightfully so, we must also remember there are a certain percentage of classmates who did not complete high school, instead dropping out.

But, there is good news.

According to a February 2015 report by U.S. News and World Report, more American students are graduating. The report, which cites a U.S. Department of Education survey, said the national graduation reached a record high in the 2012-13 school year when 81 percent graduated.

Locally, the graduation rates overall might not be that high, but they are too improving. In the Mississippi State Department of Education report issued in October, the graduation rates at Vicksburg and Warren-Central showed improvement and programs are continuing to take aim to increase the statistics even further.

In an April 2014 story, also published in U.S. News and World Report, 90 percent of students are expected to graduate by 2020. The forecast was part of the 2014 “Building a Grad Nation” report released by Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, America’s Promise Alliance and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

I could not imagine my life without my high school diploma, representing the things I learned and experiences I had. The doors that were opened for me with that diploma were countless and were far more than simply the chance of a collegiate education.

Overall, the accomplishment of a obtaining a high school education means more opportunities, but also means a better bottom line.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average high school dropout can expect to earn an annual income of $20,241, which is more than $10,000 less than that of an average high school graduate.

The graduation rate is a statistic pure and simple. It is a number that is tracked carefully and stressed over by administrators and school leaders from the local level to the federal level. But, it remains a statistic.

What is not a statistic are the lives that are impacted by the increased efforts to reduce the number of dropouts and increase the number of those accomplishing the goal of a high school diploma.

I want to offer my congratulations to those receiving their diplomas in the next few weeks and offer my encouragement to those working to ensure more can share in the dream of a diploma and the opportunities that come with it.

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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post and can be reached by email at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545 ext. 122.