Good luck to graduates

As the 2001-02 school year drew to a close, area high school seniors busily prepared to don caps and gowns and bid farewell to classmates, some of whom may have shared memories stretching back 12 years or even further.

It is significant to mention that the class of 2002 carries the distinction of being seniors during the events of Sept. 11, a memory they will pass on to future generations. These students strengthened the bonds with their classmates through that time, gaining a maturity and perspective that only such an unbelievable, unexpected event can impart on young adults.

In an era when young adults have been dubbed Generation X, Generation Y or some other pop culture label, the country witnessed these students pull together in altruistic ways that many people said had not been seen since World War II. The nation looked on proudly as this generation showed patriotism and compassion during the country’s darkest hours.

What impact this will have on tomorrow’s leaders, the class of 2002, is impossible to say. But we are sure these students will move on with their lives, the memory of those days forever deeply imbedded in their hearts and minds.

The seniors will also say good-bye to favorite faculty members who strove to inspire them to reach for the stars.

While we always congratulate the departing seniors, we sometimes forget the faculty members who are saddened, we are sure, but also proud to see their students cross the stage for the last time. Certainly these teachers and administrators can take pride in knowing that they played a part in molding these students into the people they proved to be while the nation was in pain.

High school graduation marks the end of childhood and the beginning of lifelong endeavors and responsibilities.

Some graduates will move quickly to fulfill career dreams and take on lifelong responsibilities. Others will follow less certain paths, burdened by indecision or financial or family responsibilities.

Those who are uncertain need to set firm goals and then work to achieve them. With perseverance and hard work, no goal should be insurmountable. With the availability of affordable community colleges and helpful counselors, a college education and satisfying career are well within the reach of almost everyone today.

Many graduating seniors are already in pursuit of higher education, while others relish entering the world of work or service to our country. The decision to enter the armed forces would take on even more meaning in these uncertain times.

Regardless of which road they have chosen, we know that the new graduates are filled with high hopes and wonderful dreams of what their futures hold, for they are following in the footsteps of all of us.

Their high school memories will fade as the years pass, but they will filter back again and again as a reminder of the special time in their lives when serious problems were someone else’s burden.

But if the events of that defining moment in the nation’s history, Sept. 11, have proved anything, it is certainly not that this generation will be deterred by fear. To the contrary, this group has shown an inner strength that should bode them well as they face the future’s challenges. It’s perhaps more than many social critics gave these graduates credit for at the school year’s beginning.

To the graduates of all of our local public, parochial and private high schools, we wish the very best.