As the late afternoon hours prior to Southern Regional High School’s 67th commencement ceremony dragged on, senior Skylar Soltis kept one thing front and center in her mind.

“Unless somebody pays me, I’m not tripping tonight,” joked the 6-foot-3 basketball player, one of 467 graduates inside the gymnasium about to culminate her “Southern Experience” on June 11. “Because otherwise that would be me. It’s not like I haven’t tripped before, not at all. But not today. It’s not happening.”