Dear Class of 2021,
One of the effects of this past year is that the passage of time has been hard to measure. Weeks dragged on, months flew by, and one day looked very much like the next. But annual moments like birthdays and holidays have provided a yardstick by which to measure our progress, our growth, and our achievements over the past year and now, as we head into graduation season, we have a chance to both look back as well as to look forward.
Over the past year (and more!) I've so enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you. I've delighted in your successes, marveled at your cleverness, laughed at your silliness, and so admired you for your resiliency. Above all, I've been so grateful to you for the kindness you have shown. When I posed the question to you, "Who do you want to be in the time of global crisis?" you rose to the challenge, selling Black Lives Matter signs and artistic, homemade cakes to raise money for charities, organizing a group to make masks to donate to vets early on in the pandemic when masks were hard to come by, and engaging your peers in important conversations. You watched your siblings when your parents were working, you helped out around the house, you cleaned neighbors' yards, and you tended to friends who were struggling. When the world dealt you some unlucky cards, you played the best hand you could and each of your gestures of kindness and grace has made an impact.
Now, as you walk across the stage to receive your high school diploma, know that you have done something no other class before you has done -- you made it through high school even though you spent one-third of that time living through a pandemic.
And while I hope that the hardest months of your lives are behind you, certainly there are challenges, and some mighty ones, that lie ahead. I hope that you will draw on your considerable strengths and that you will continually ask yourself "Who do I want to be in this world?" because even when we're not facing a global crisis, we are called on every day to be citizens, to serve others, and to serve our communities. Your class has awed me -- truly, deeply, awed me -- with your commitment to social justice and to righting wrongs. I've never had greater hope in our future, and that hope lies in each and every one of you.
Heather Cox Richardson wrote this lovely piece in her blog a few days ago, and I hope you'll take a moment to read it and that you'll go through life choosing to do what is right, not what is good enough.
I can't be at your graduations, but know that as I imagine you striding across that stage, I am smiling brightly. I'm proud of you and grateful for the ways that you have made me a better person.
Be well and do good. And, as always, keep in touch. Our time together has flown by but hopefully not ended.
Warmly,
Allison