Not just another day.

Byline: ANNE WILLIAMS The Register-Guard

9:15 A.M.: Graduation Day starts much like many other days for 18-year-old Thomas "Lee" Herrera - with a gentle wake-up knock from his dad.

His buddy Cameron Patterson, a junior whose classes don't start until later in the day, is coming by for a morning jam session, but beyond that, they don't really have any plans. Classes at Sheldon High School - 12 years of public education, if you think of it in a big-picture way - ended for seniors on Wednesday.

Herrera stands in his hopelessly messy room, a teen-age boy's dream - an old shack, altogether separate from his parents' house, with a big TV, a wood-burning stove, a refrigerator and an impressive collection of speakers and sound equipment.

"I always thought I'd be more excited, looking back on it," Herrera says, strumming lightly on his electric guitar. "It's just another day. I'm really just looking ahead to college now."

But Graduation Day is anything but "just another day" for Herrera's parents, and he's well aware of it. For all kinds of reasons, graduating from high school is something none of his siblings - one full brother, three half-brothers and one half-sister, all of them older - ever managed to do. Nor did his father, Miguel Herrera, a self-employed landscaper who immigrated from Mexico 20-plus years ago.

Now Lee, the baby, is about to end the cycle - and how.

On Monday, he earned a separate diploma from Sheldon's International High School, a rigorous, college-preparatory program with a focus on world issues. He pulled off a 3.7 grade point average overall.

Later Thursday night, he would wear a golden Honor Society cord around his neck.

Herrera's also been captain of Sheldon's lacrosse team since its inception his junior year, and he was a candidate - after a vote by the senior girls - for Mr. Irish, a pageant to raise money for Sacred Heart Medical Center's neonatal ward and other children's health services.

"My mom's real excited," says Herrera, who has dark hair and sideburns, a slight build and a ready smile. "It's definitely a big deal for my parents."

11:30 a.m.: After a quick stop at the skate park at Cal Young Middle School, Herrera and Patterson roll into the parking lot of Burrito Boy on Franklin Boulevard in Herrera's Hyundai Elantra. Their friend Ian Samhammer, the drummer in their jam sessions, joins them.

"We eat here every day," Patterson says.

The conversation touches on summer plans, as well as a nasty, anonymous note - although they're 99.9 percent sure they know the culprit's identity - left on Herrera's windshield at school the day before.

Samhammer, also a senior, says he doesn't get the fuss over graduation, either.

"I couldn't be any less excited, probably," says Samhammer, filling out an application for Red Robin between bites.

All three plan to work over the summer, and Samhammer says he'll probably enroll at Lane Community College in the fall.

After working with his dad all summer, Herrera will start classes at Oregon State University. OSU grants will cover his tuition and supplies, but he wants to earn enough to rent an apartment on his own. He'll need to find a job in Corvallis - maybe at Albertson's, where he used to work in Eugene.

He wants to teach elementary school.

"There's something about kids," he says. "Maybe the fact that at that level they don't really care what other people think. And I think it's important to have good teachers then."

Herrera had a great teacher at Willakenzie Elementary, he says, and that helped him cultivate a love of learning. But he was also determined not to follow in his siblings' footsteps.

Even though there's a mandatory rehearsal at the Hult Center in 45 minutes, the three decide to squeeze in a game of bowling at Emerald Lanes.

They show up a little late to rehearsal, which drags on for a good two hours. Principal Doug Smith tells the 350 would-be graduates to be punctual for the group photo later.

"It's the one that goes in the hallway, and represents the class of 2002 forever," he says.

4 p.m.: The family starts to gather at the Herreras' pleasingly ramshackle house, on about six acres on rural Armitage Road. A family friend, Nancy Salyers, is there to play midwife, if need be, to a very pregnant dachshund.

Herrera's mother, a hairdresser, says her customers have heard little else but talk of Lee all year.

"They will be so glad when this is over!" says Marla Herrera, 48, a Eugene native who graduated from North Eugene High School.

Prone to outbursts of emotion, Marla Herrera chokes up when Lee appears in his kelly-green cap and gown, showered and shaved.

"We're just so proud," she says. "Whatever Lee wants, he goes for."

Miguel Herrera, 55, feels just the same, she says, though he doesn't talk about it as readily.

`The night of the Mr. Irish pageant, we were driving home and I looked over and he had big tears in his eyes and he said to me, `I just want to thank you for giving me Lee,' ' she says.

Half-brothers Angel Herrera and Allan Keiser arrive, along with Marla's father and stepmother, Tom and Ruby Putman. The six take off early for the Hult Center.

Meanwhile, Herrera, Samhammer, Patterson and another friend, Thurston High School junior Jenna Willis, enjoy a high-decibel jam session in the shack.

6:05 p.m.: Herrera and Samhammer arrive just in time for the group photo, downing cups of TCBY frozen yogurt. Herrera, who had "Mom" tattooed on his upper right arm for his 18th birthday, has left the lipstick print from his mother's kiss unwashed on his cheek.

The graduates disappear after the photo, and family members take their seats. The first hour is taken up with musical performances and weighty speeches, many of them touching on the accomplishments of the senior class and the aspiration to do even more in the future.

At 8 p.m. sharp, with Marla Herrera clasping her hands in front of her face, Lee Herrera shakes Smith's hand and takes his diploma. His pants rolled up to his knees under his robe, he crosses the stage with an inflated pool toy around his waist. It's all over around 9:30 p.m.

Herrera and his friends will head back to his house and then see what happens, he says.

"It was about what I expected," he says, noting that he never got too emotional, even knowing how his parents felt.

"My mind's just more on the next step. I guess I'm not so much living in the moment but living in the future."

TODAY'S GRADUATIONS

Crow High School , 7 p.m., at the school.

Elkton High School , 7 p.m., in the school gym.

Lifegate Christian School , 7 p.m., at First Baptist Church, Eugene.

Lowell High School , 7 p.m., in the school gym.

North Bend High School , 7:30 p.m., in the school gym.

Pleasant Hill High School 7:30 p.m., at the football stadium.

Springfield High School , 7:30 p.m., at Silke Field.

Willamette High School , 7:30 p.m., at Wolverine Stadium.

Churchill High School, 8 p.m., at the Hult Center.

Creswell High School , 8 p.m., in the school gym.

Siuslaw High School , 8 p.m., in the school gym.

OTHER AREA GRADUATIONS

Marist High School, Saturday, 11 a.m., in the school gymnasium.

McKenzie High School, Saturday, 11 a.m., in the school gymnasium.

Mohawk High School, Saturday, 1 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Monroe High School, Saturday, 1 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Thurston High School, Saturday, 1 p.m., at the Hult Center.

Central Linn High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Cottage Grove High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., at Currin Field.

Mapleton High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

North Douglas High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Oakridge High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., at the school.

Sutherlin High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Waldport High School, Saturday, 2 p.m., at the school.

Junction City High School, Saturday, 3 p.m., at William Peden Field.

Garden Way Academy, Saturday, 4 p.m., at the school.

Churchill Alternative High School, Saturday, 7 p.m., in the school auditorium.

Marshfield High School, Saturday, 7 p.m., in the school's P.E. building.

North Eugene High School, Saturday, 7 p.m., at Swede Johnson Stadium.

South Eugene High School, Saturday, 7 p.m., in the Hult Center.

Harrisburg High School, Sunday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Reedsport High School, Sunday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Yoncalla High School, Sunday, 2 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Opportunity Center, June 11, 7:30 p.m., in the South Eugene High School auditorium.

Gateways Learning Center, June 12, 7:30 p.m., in the Springfield High School gymnasium.

Pioneer Youth Corps Military Academy, June 14, 11 a.m., at the Wheeler Pavilion at the Lane County Fairgrounds.

Wellsprings Friends School, June 14, 4:30 p.m., at the Valley River Inn.

Elmira High School, June 14, 7 p.m., in the school gymnasium.

Oak Hill School, June 15, 11 a.m., at the school.

CAPTION(S):

Sheldon International High School graduate Lee Herrera gets a hug from his mother, Marla, as his father, Miguel, walks toward the ceremony. CHRIS PIETSCH / The Register-Guard Lee Herrera (left) celebrtates a strike with Cameron Patterson during an impromptu trip to Emerald Lanes before graduation rehearsal. Jenna Willis (left) joins Lee Herrera and Cameron Patterson for a jam session at Herrera's home after their rock band's rehearsal. Herrera graduated from Sheldon's International High School later Thursday.