Congratulations to the class of 2021

It’s that time of year when across the land high school and college seniors cross the stage to receive their diplomas and degrees and begin a new phase in their journey called life.

Graduation is a milestone. It’s a marker indicating achievement and advancement. It’s the finish line of formal education and the starting line for what comes next. For many, especially those graduating from high school, the next step is continued education. For some in college it’s the move to a more advanced degree. Still others will move on to military service or entry into the workforce.

Whatever the case may be, spring is a season of change. This change isn’t to be feared but embraced. This is, after all, what the graduates have worked for all this time. For the class of 2021, this year presents opportunities that rarely come along. The COVID-19 pandemic changed many things. Right now there are more jobs available than at any point in recent history. Too often graduates walk out into a crowded workforce with little chance of finding a job right away. Thanks in part to the pandemic, jobs, college, and military service opportunities are in abundance.

Another advantage of the pandemic is that the class of 2021 has learned to be one of the most creative and adaptive classes in history. The ability to seek and find new ways of doing things is a skill they will use the rest of their lives as they move forward in an everchanging world. For all of the things that the pandemic took from them in the last year, it has also opened new doors and new avenues of success.

Some sage advice to our graduates is to enjoy the moment but don’t rest on your laurels. This is the time to keep those academic and creative juices flowing as you move into the next chapter of your life. Pardon the cliché, but the only constant is change and you need to be prepared for it. No one can control what life throws at them but they can control how they respond. Life threw a pandemic at us last year. How you respond to it, how you adapt to its challenges, will dictate how successful you are going forward.

To the class of 2021, we congratulate you on your achievement, the accomplishment of a major goal. We wish you continued success and prosperity. You’ve earned this moment. Enjoy it. Make the most of it.

Carpe diem! – JS

This is an editorial for the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post that ran May 26, 2021.