High school graduation is an important milestone in a person’s life. It’s a rite of passage and an important part of a teenager’s journey into becoming an adult. It’s an accomplishment that we should all applaud, especially given the fact that over the past two years students largely had to study at home away from their friends and the many benefits of the school environment.
Going from being in a classroom to isolating in their homes, students have had to adapt to a new way of life. Still, they showed up to their online classes and tried to stay engaged. Now, in this graduation season, as their names get . . .
called out and they walk across that stage to receive their diplomas, it is important to celebrate the progress these students have achieved amid the challenges they have faced.
It is also important to recognize that as they step into this world of being new graduates, they will face new challenges associated with making decisions about whether to continue to college or university, where to go and what to study, or whether to look for work close to home or in the city.
So often we are given the sense from a young age that we will be expected to have our lives mapped out by the time we are teenagers. But change is bound to happen as we learn more about who we are and discover capabilities we never knew we had. Rather than fear change, we all need to expect it and embrace it.
As graduation approaches, students can feel a lot of pressure to know exactly what they are planning to do with their lives, and it can leave young people with a feeling of anxiety, as they hope that the choices they make are the right ones. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone would just give you a plan and lay out every step so the choices do not feel so daunting?
It is okay to change your mind about where you want to study or what you want to study, and even about whether you want to study, as there are many ways to learn.
The pressure that questions about your future gives you is, to some extent, a function of your own seemingly limitless potential, the pride and enthusiasm people feel for you, and the possibilities brought on by your youth.
It’s a time to be bold, brave and daring. Don’t worry if your plans do not end up going in a direction you want, write new ones. There’s no one right way of doing things. Following different paths is a process of discovery about the world and about yourself. That’s education, and that’s what we need to embrace.
Zainab Al-Mehdar & Eva Baldi
