Graduation time is here in Selma and Dallas County.

It is a time of remembering the last 12 years, tears and celebration.

Graduation is a scary time as well. There are so many possibilities of how life can go after graduation.

Some will head off to college, some will go straight into the workforce and some will learn valuable trades.

Whatever the path these students choose, you continue the hard work that got you to this moment.

Don’t lose sight of your goals and don’t give up when hard times come up.

The national high school graduation rate has risen to a new all-time high. New figures released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics show that 84.6 percent of the students in the class of 2016-17 earned diplomas in four years. That’s a half-point better than in 2015-16, when the graduation rate was 84.1 percent.

Interact with the charts below to see how graduation rates for U.S. students, and different student populations, have changed over time and how your state’s graduation rate compares.

We’re proud of all the local graduates who will walk across the stage in the coming weeks to start the next chapter in their life.

Keep up the good work.