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Nothing says graduation day like caps, gowns, diplomas and shaky knees.

As graduating senior Daniel Geller waited with friends for the big moment at the Soldotna Sports Center, he admitted his knees were a tad wobbly.

"Nothings going to go wrong but my legs kind of feel jittery just because it's a big day," he said.

Geller, like many of his peers, was still trying to come to grips with the reality of what was going on around him.

"It hasn't really set in I don't think. It's kind of a weird feeling," he said.

Geller's classmate, Ross Courtney, was feeling pretty pumped.

"I've been waiting a long time for this. I'm pretty stoked, this is a big day in our lives," Courtney said.

Moving on is bitter sweet though, memories of athletic victories and social camaraderie would be missed by all.

Thor Herrick said he'd even miss some of the classes.

"I'm probably just going to miss high school itself, the social gathering of people and friends over time, the learning experiences, there's other classes like welding, cool stuff like that," Herrick said.

Herrick was confident in his future. He arrived at the ceremony after getting off work from Airport Rental, and said joining the Marines was down the road.

Joe Shirley said he was headed to North Dakota State to play football, though he had his sights set on the future.

"After college I'm going to try and go onto medical school and become a doctor," he said.

Courtney was also headed to the "Legendary" state of North Dakota for some football, but plans on attending Valley City State University for at least a year.

"I'll play football there for a year and check out more schools and see how it goes," he said.

He too was thinking long term.

"I'm going to take a look at sports medicine, hopefully get a degree in that, and hopefully go on to play foot ball in the arena league," he said.

Geller was headed to sunnier climes at Prescott College in Arizona to play soccer and work on a business degree while looking at other schools.

"I'm going to college to see what I like," he said.

Find a list of Soldotna High School's Class of 2009 on Page B-8.