Dear Graduate

 

"There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." 

~ Nelson Mandela ~

 "The important thing is not to stop questioning."

~ Albert Einstein ~

 

In honor of all the graduates completing high school in 2026, I've written a short speech. It goes like this:

Principal Smith, Superintendent Jones, honored members of the School Board, faculty  and parents: Thank you for allowing me to address those that will consider this an irrelevant event in as little as six months.

To the graduates: Congratulations on surviving 13 years of indoctrination at the hands of those who are doing the very best they can with what our Department of Education allows. For 13 years, you've endured being told when and where to sit...HOW to sit. You've been told when to eat, when to use the bathroom, told to sit still, and expected to learn at the same rate, with the same techniques, as everyone else. You've endured whitewashed history, a low bar for physical fitness, and even outdated literature. You've eked through your days at the hands of educators who, despite their best intentions, have been restrained, in not only what they teach, but how. They're overworked, under-paid,  under-appreciated, and exhausted by raising kids that aren't being raised at home; who, many times, aren't being fed at home, and who are bored out of their minds with the lack of challenge and expectations. The students are unchallenged and the teachers are frustrated. It's almost as if someone up the chain wants it that way.

You're to be  commended for completing 13 years of compulsory activity that has done almost nothing to prepare you for what real life has to offer. Many of you here tonight can't balance a check register, can't budget, know nothing about our tax code, are clueless about healthy foods, let alone how to actually grow it,  probably can't name the 3 branches of our government, can't tell you who their state senators are,  and most certainly can't change a flat tire. You know little, if anything about conflict resolution, don't know how a legislative bill is passed, and have no clear understanding of actual history regarding indigenous people and racism or poverty. 

Nearly 50 years ago,  I was sitting exactly where you are now. In fact, if your last name starts with a "L," you're probably sitting within a few feet of exactly where I sat. You may even be in the same folding chair. What I want you know is that 50 years was yesterday. I didn't believe it when I was your age either, but trust me when I tell you, 50 years is tomorrow. When you blink, it'll be tomorrow and all that's in between will be memories. So, I want to ask you to do something. I want to challenge you to do something.

I want you to leave.  No. No. Not right now. I have to finish my speech and you have diplomas to grab and parties to attend. I want you to leave town. Come back at a later date if you must. There is much to be done in being part of a community. But before you can really be the best contributor you can be, you have to leave.

Go to university, trade school, or community college. But don't go next door. Go to another state...another country should you have the means.  And not for the major or the degree. Most employers couldn't care less about your major. Go for the experience. Meet people outside your circle, outside  your town, outside your belief system. Be a part of a system that wants you to see how other people are doing it.

Can't find a way to afford more school? Grab a backpack, take your beat-up car (or buy a plane ticket) and see the world...or at least the country. Many of you have never left your town, your county, or your state. You're stuck in a mindset that says, "This is all there is. This is what there is to believe. These are the boundaries of your life." You must leave to break away from the same old information. If you're ever going to be the best part of the human race, you have to look outside what you've always known. 

Are you religious? Methodist? Catholic? Baptist? Muslim? Even Atheist? My question for you is this. Why? Are you religious because your parents are or have you come to believe it for yourself? Same goes for politics. Republican? Democrat? Independent? Libertarian? Why? Have you examined what it means to be any (or none) of these or were you indoctrinated to believe what you "are" at home and  at school?

What about the big questions of our universe? Big Bang? Or was the Big Bang simply another event in a collapsing galaxy? Are you perhaps a Flat-Earther or even a New-
Earther? Ok.  Why? Are we here by accident or the result of a divine creator? How do you know? CAN you know or is it safe to believe NONE of us know? 

What do you know about systemic racism, systemic poverty, the slaughter and colonization of indigenous people,  or our very active caste system. Have you even heard of places like Wounded Knee, Rosewood, the Greenwood section of Tulsa, or even Wilmington? Do you know the vast reaches of slavery and have you considered America wasn't discovered by Columbus?

What do you really know about women's rights and can you tell me what happened to the ancient matriarchy and how a patriarchal society began? Can you name the state capitols and do you know Mexican people occupied what is now Texas and California for centuries before it became part of the USA? How does that make you feel about immigration? What do you even know about immigration and the rights of people who come to our country...which was colonized at the hands of 54 million natives, by the way?

Can you name a single constitutional amendment and do you know how the Electoral College works? Do you own a gun and what do you truly understand the context of the Second Amendment?  

I can keep asking, but I can see most of you starting to squirm in those torturous metal chairs, and school board members have the local police on hold. My point is this. In order for you to be a credible member of society; locally, regionally, or nationally, you have to be informed. You can't carry just what you know from your time here into a meeting and expect to be taken seriously. If this is all you've seen, all you've heard, and all you know...

...you might as well have been born a tree. Question everything: everything you hear, read, and see. Form an opinion of your very own.  Oh...and then you can come back. We're counting on you. 

Congratulations!! 

AUTHORS NOTE: THIS PIECE IS AN OVERGENERALIZATION BY DESIGN. I KNOW OF MANY SCHOOL SYSTEMS,  TEACHERS,  AND TOWNS WHERE WHAT YOU JUST READ ISN'T THE NORM. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO...ESPECIALLY THE TEACHERS!!