On Second Thought

It is celebration week

“Develop courage. Courage is the most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently.” - Maya Angelou

It is celebration week.

This week, the Iowa Park Leader, the community and most certainly the parents, grandparents, teachers and administrators will celebrate the Iowa Park High School Class of 2020.

And judging from some of the messages I’ve received from long ago IPHS graduates, you are being celebrated by those before you. I do hope you can feel the love.

This entire community of Iowa Park has gotten behind this class in the midst of a myriad of unforeseen circumstances and made certain that you had tradition play a part in the end of a school year that was anything but traditional. You have your own distinct tradition we all hope we never have to replicate. Embrace it anyway.

Your principal, educators and coaches, as well as the IPCISD Superintendent Steve Moody wrote messages to your class in the graduation section included in this week’s issue. And, several of you gave your thoughts on your senior year. We have never done that before and loved the sentiments they each expressed for you. You will, too.

Also, and this is big, you are the winners of the longest Spring break competition - all of you! Go forth with pride.

It has been the most overwhelmingly non-dualistic year for you, filled with things that are both good and bad, many at the same time.

There is no doubt that your last year of high school didn’t end like anybody in history would have predicted, but I think many of you will walk away from high school with a world wisdom few before you have had so young. You have no doubt learned there are some things that we have no control over. Welcome to forced maturity. It took me 50 years to learn that.

You - and all of us - are living through a pandemic, civil unrest, political strife and murder hornets.

Welcome to adulthood. Now is the time in your life that you get to decide how you feel about these things and what you intend to do about it, hopefully with great responsibility. You are not in the shadows of what is going on around us. You have - as each of us do - a perfect opportunity to be a light in the midst of this chaos.

I have been working on our graduation issue in this week’s paper for close to two months, almost daily. While I’ve not met most of the seniors - a by-product of my youngest child being 31 - I almost feel like I know you.

I wish each one of you the very best life has to offer.

Welcome to adulthood. Go forward with courage.