The Graduation Speech I May Never Give
Graduates of the Class of 2020:
It has been a rough year. Pandemic has spread across the globe like an insidious storm, threatening our very definition of “normal, everyday life.” When I was child, polio ripped through our country targeting children, especially. Schools were closed to stem that tide, but nothing like what you have seen during your senior year.
You were born at a time when this country had been dealt a devastating blow by enemies to democracy. For most of your lifetime, American soldiers have been deployed across the world to protect and secure safety for our way of life.
Now for many of you, the traditions and ceremonies which were to be the well-earned goals of your hard work, and which mark your turning point into adulthood, are at risk. Of course, there are tears of loss and flashes of anger. But put down your phone and look around you.
You may have been denied the prom dress, or the graduation walk, or the state softball title, but you kept moving when your world was literally turned upside down, and you had to adapt overnight to online or long distant education. You did not give up when your job disappeared because your boss did not have enough business to keep the doors open. You refused to lose track of the people who mattered to you even though you were quarantined within the walls of your home. You learned to play board games with your family or worked on thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles. Some of you even learned to appreciate your parents.
You have known difficult days, and you have not given in. You have developed in a few short months the kind of grit that generations of graduates before you may have taken most of their adult years to acquire. You may have been denied the celebrations for some of your hoped-for goals, but you have also been given an open door.
Who matters today? Not the sports stars or the famous actors or the trending YouTubers—although many of them have demonstrated extraordinary humanity. Who is it holding our society together? Doctors, nurses, medical techs of all kinds, teachers, truck drivers, pharmacists, police, fire fighters, scientists, sanitation and utility workers, grocery clerks–all of them ordinary citizens like your parents and your neighbors. These are the people who have always been essential. We have just taken them for granted. Not this year.
What does all this mean? It means YOU matter. Whether or not you have a photo in your cap and gown, whether or not you danced at your prom, whether you graduated first or last in your class, whether everyone knew your name, or no one did. What you choose to do next matters to all of us. Some of you will attack the big problems in society; some will work every day to make ends meet so that you can feed your children. But unlike senior classes before you, you have already been tested. And you have earned an “A”.
The future of our world is in excellent hands. Yours.
Excellent! We need daily reminders of what really matters. In our City we have seen so many step up to help, even in the face of potential dangers. I am amazed at the strength, convictions and caring of the people of Southern Nevada. It makes me proud. It also should serve as a reminder to us all that we ARE strong, industrious, humane and fiercely fighting to put things right.
Amen. Times like this reinforce that, regardless of all the hype, people have the power to make the world around them better–which is why I love you, Denise.
Thank you for this! At the age of 47, I am graduating college. I overcame a nasty addiction and went from homeless to college graduate. I was so disappointed that my Mother and my Son would not be able to come watch me walk across that stage and get what I worked so hard for, shed tears over, spent many sleepless nights brooding over. But, I have come to realize that one of the purposes of the past two years was to teach me not just book learning, but how to be a good person. I have learned acceptance, humanity, compassion. I believe it has prepared me for a moment like this where we have to reach deep down and find our inner strength, put aside our wants and focus on others. I’m okay with not walking in a graduation ceremony, because I think this whole thing has been like a final. A final to prove that I have learned what my college education is truly about, being a person with a lot to offer. I have been asked to record a speech for our scholars luncheon ( which we won’t be gathering for), and I now know what to say. Thank you!
After reading your comment, I want to know more about how you managed to conquer addiction and homelessness. You must be possessed of enormous self-will, a trait I admire enormously.
Inspiring as always, my friend! Our strength throughout life seems to always come through the adversity we face and the lessons we learn. This graduating class has a bright future because they have seen first-hand that complex challenges arise, but with the help of EVERYONE, we will face them, overcome them, and forge ahead, better people than we were before. Thank you for always expressing things perfectly.
I think you nailed it, Peggy. Our strength is all of us moving in the same direction. Seems like that should be obvious, but it takes a pandemic to remind us. Some people seem to radiate that understanding–you are one of those.