Our View: Graduates make it through tough times

We can easily imagine the remark coming from those picking up the Pine Knot News this week. “That’s a hefty paper.”

Indeed. We are proud to once again show you all the beaming faces of this year’s graduates from schools across the county. We know these sections mean a lot to the high school seniors and their families and friends.

We urge you to look closely at those faces, for this year’s crop of graduates have been through a lot. Imagine the last three years of your hometown education bombarded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, it really means something to say, “You made it. Good job.”

This month we are seeing graduation ceremonies that look like the before times. They aren’t drive- thru, drive-up or virtual. They aren’t surrounded by health protocols. The pandemic lingers, but it’s refreshing that here in a spring that has finally come just in the past week or so, it can be viewed as an experience tackled.

Before times. The Class of 2019 was remarkable for its place in history. It was the first wave of graduates born after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Today’s graduates have lived their entire lives in the new world order that came to be that day. And, someday, they’ll be talking about this year’s graduates as parents of children born after the pandemic, which brings its own pages to a history still being written.

We usually reserve this space each spring to offer graduates some post-high school advice. We wonder if they need it. Many are stronger after the past few years. Whatever life may bring in their adulthoods will always be compared to getting through the pandemic.

But we know there are remnants attached to that fight. Teens today have record-high rates of mental health issues related to the pandemic. We hope those who may be suffering find help, reach out, and find better peace of mind.

Advice? Use graduation as a marker to get things right. A fresh start. You don’t have to know everything right now when it comes to the course of your new life. Some will continue at college. Some will work. Some may just want to take time off and explore, worldwide and at home.

Whatever you do, take care of yourselves and those around you. Take moments to reflect. Make the world around you better by being in it, by taking an active part in the community. Open your heart to new experiences and people.

While history may have its labels based on when you were born, you post-Sept. 11, post-pandemic graduates are newly minted, and ripe to set your own path defined by you, and not others. Enjoy your work and your future studies. We know that you know what life can be like when everything and everyone suddenly goes away. We are sure you have become appreciative of what was lost and now regained.

It’s worth repeating, for it does mean so much this year: “You made it.”

Congratulations to the Class of 2022 and all those who helped this year’s seniors reach the ultimate stage. This is just the beginning.