UNION SPRINGS -- As the students sat in their simple purple or white robes, Union Springs Central School Principal Kimberle Ward addressed the class of 2008 on the symbolism of the cap and gown.

Legend had it that the cap and gown went as far back as ancient Greece, when education was limited to the wealthy, Ward said. When one professor was asked to dress his students up for graduation in clothing fit for royalty, he said he would find the appropriate apparel. On the day of the ceremony the teacher paraded his pupils out with the simple mortarboards and robes worn by commoners, causing an uproar among the upper-class spectators.

The teacher told the audience that their sons were dressed as masons because their destiny was to build the future, Ward said. They would build cities, governments and even empires.

"Your parents were the architects and you have spent the last four years building a strong foundation for your future," Ward said. "The cap and gown is a symbol that you young people will take the burden of their own future and the future of the world."

Superintendent Linda Rice said it was time to celebrate the achievements and the success of the students as they moved on to the next stage of their lives.

More than 70 of the graduates will continue their education at a college or institute, two will go into Americorps, two will join the military and four will join the work force.

This was the much anticipated moment that parents and students had been working toward with interviews, applications and college and job fairs, and now it was time to actually take the next step, Rice said.

Kim and Matt Schooley, said their son, Nicholas Schooley, planned on attending Onondaga Community College for business administration in the fall.

"He applied about a year ago and we were all happy when he was accepted," Kim said. "He will be moving in August and classes start around Labor Day."

In a world of more than six billion people, class president Katherine Foster said students such as Schooley and herself were only a statistic until they used this opportunity to make a name for themselves by fighting for what they believe in.

"With our new found adulthood, the task of making something out of ourselves is on our shoulders," Foster said. "This is our beginning for the rest of our lives."