One Man’s Ramblings

A word to the graduates

Well, IPHS Class of 2020, we finally get the opportunity to graduate you and send you on your merry way.

Happy trails!

I actually spent the past 20 minutes writing something sarcastic about your experience, but I’ve deleted it and started over. It was witty and “out-of-the-box” so to speak, but in the back of my mind it was just falling short of being my intended message to you graduating seniors.

You’ve been through enough as it is.

I might have made light of the fact you got an extended Spring Break – something most seniors only fantasize about. But that extended break turned into something less comical and endearing. You missed out on many things that all of us fellow IPHS graduates took for granted at the time, but now count as some of our most treasured moments.

Those final games in sports, hopefully into the playoffs. The trips to FFA, literary and theatrical competitions and, hopefully, to state. The conversations on walks between classes, or in the cafeteria. Heck, even the annual awards ceremony in the auditorium.

You missed the interactions with your favorite coaches and teachers. And they missed you as well.

The coronavirus pandemic put your whole world in the washing machine’s spin cycle. And not just your life, but all those around you, including family and other friends, and your underclassmen.

Even come tomorrow night in Hawk Stadium, you will see a marked difference as families gather in the stands in pods, observing social distancing measures. You yourself will be seated on the field with adequate spacing between fellow graduates.

All I can tell is, to embrace this moment in time. Soak up every sensation, visual and auditory, because it is like the 1,000 year flood ... it only comes once in a great while (God willing).

Soak up all of this past year as best you can. I think it will greatly benefit you as you move forward in life.

Once restrictions are lifted, and hopefully the virus contained or a vaccination discovered, life as we’ve often taken for granted will slowly be restored.

And it might mean much more to you when you sit in the stands of a packed stadium to watch a high school or college football game.

It might have more meaning to you, enjoying a meal with friends or family in a bustling restaurant.

You might find more joy just walking to and from classes with a group of close friends, surrounded by a mass of other classmates.

It is all a matter of perspective. And you’ve been given many examples of what it is like to have so much taken away.

I think it was Lord Byron who said “Life is short, and art is long.”

Embrace life! And embrace your coming days as you transition from high school to college, or a trade school, or your first fulltime job.

Make something of yourselves. Each and every one of you are special, and you’ve been afforded a special time.

I wish you all the best.