High school graduation is one of the biggest milestones in a teenager's life, but the days leading up to that moment haven't been easy for the senior class of Wimberley High School.
"They have been really hectic, scary, sad, devastating,” graduate Justyna Melton said. “Our town doesn't look anything like what it used to."
The small town is still recovering from the floods earlier this week. For the graduating seniors, it's meant seeing classmates and friends lose everything.
"We had five feet of water in our house, and everything below that was destroyed,” graduate Erin Brasseaux said.
Students say seeing devastation hit their community puts things into perspective. The graduates decided to forego their senior trip and instead donate all of the money to help out flood victims.
"It's inspiring, and as a flood victim I feel honored,” graduate Henry Wollam said. “I hope that it affects classes below us as they watch us and take an example from the class of 2015."
The teens say they knew graduation would be a night of mixed emotions, but never imagined it would fall just days after tragedy struck their small town. Still, they're not letting what happened get in the way of celebrating their accomplishments.
"It's just really nice to see how many people have reached out to help us in this time,” graduate Kate Caldwell said. “I'm glad we still have this time to come together and celebrate this one last time."
And as the senior class prepares for goodbyes and new experiences, members say they're most looking forward to seeing their cherished community rebuild itself one day at a time.
"That's probably the biggest thing I've learned – that my family and community are more important than anything else,” Brasseaux said.
Wimberley High School was originally set to have its graduation party at the Wimberley Community Center, but because the center is being used as a flood resource center, the event was canceled. However, Texas State offered to let the high school have it at the Texas State Activity Center free of charge.