To All the Classes of 2020: This One’s For You

This is not how it was supposed to go. Turning in your last final exam should have felt like more than relief. You didn’t get the heady feeling of walking out of your school for the last time as a student. No senior trips. No prom. None of the rituals you observed a year ago, thinking, Next year that’s gonna be me and friends.

It may not seem like there is a silver lining. But there is. There may not be the traditional fanfare of a graduation ceremony, but you do have a unique story to tell. The promise of big celebrations has been dashed, but your dreams for a successful, happy life shouldn’t be. In fact you are positioned, given the unfair hand you have been dealt, to turn those dreams into determination for better.

In the advice from a high school graduate:

Never Let Your Dreams Die

My fellow classmates and friends: today we graduate. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives. We face a large, challenging world that presents us with large, challenging questions. One such question we will face, and probably already have, is: What are you going to do with your lives? The answer to this question will vary among us because we are each unique individuals. We each have our own goals to achieve and dreams to follow. And we must pursue our goals and dreams. Martin Luther King, Jr., set a prime example for us to follow. He had a dream. He wanted African Americans to possess the same social and political rights as white Americans, and he made it his goal to help obtain these rights. King devoted much time and energy to the movement, making speeches and leading protest marches. Sometimes his efforts were met with violent opposition, but King never gave up hope. He continued to fight for the cause he believed in; and his yearning for racial equality, and his motivation of the people around him led to victory. King had determination and met his goal. And we must possess this same determination if we are to meet our goals and make our dreams come true. We must do as King did, and work hard to achieve what we want, whether it be an “A” in a difficult class or a pay-raise. And although we may encounter some obstacles and experience some failures, we must strive towards our goals and dreams and never abandon them. Despite some depressing hardships during the civil rights movement, King pushed onward. And we must also push onward, for if we do, we shall certainly achieve, and continue to do so, until our goals and dreams become realities. King was victorious, and we will be, too.

King set another very important example for us that we should take seriously. He pursued a dream despite strong opposition to his ideas. His determination despite great odds earned him respect from people around him. We can interpret this to mean that we must pursue our own interests and be independent. We shouldn’t let others decide for us what we can and can’t do. If we each decide, “Hey, this is what I’m going to do!” and act upon our decisions, we will have pride in ourselves that will be quite evident to our peers. They will respect us for what we do, for we will have accomplished a very wonderful thing: becoming our own persons.

So I challenge you today: never let your dreams die. You will go far in life and achieve what you set your sights on. But most importantly, you will succeed in becoming strong individuals. To the graduating class of 2020, I wish the best of luck.

Graduates, you have felt the disappointment of a lost senior spring, the absence of the time-honored rituals that mark the passage into independence, and the start of adulthood. But think about the goals and dreams you have, and how they have evolved during this time of social distancing. And know that you are stronger, tougher and have more grit. You have been given a special chance to put your greatly-altered circumstances and outlook to good, to better, use.

Go get ’em. We need you now more than ever.