Graduates, when you are handed your diploma, that moment will mark the end of this leg through your education journey.
Those of you who graduated from high school this week will either continue your education at college, others of you will forgo further education and enter the workforce or the military. You young adults graduating from college this spring likely have your next step in mind, be it graduate school or starting a career in your chosen field.
Whatever school you graduated it is important to know that you are not alone.
You are not alone because millions of others of your age have shared the same things over the past 15 months. Much like the Greatest Generation, you and your peers have a shared experience that has changed you for the rest of your lives. Similar experience fosters empathy, a trait that is currently in too short of supply in our world.
You are not alone; your loved ones, friends and mentors have a stake in your success. There is no one who wants to stand in your way. There will always a hand ready to help you climb to the next rung of life. Don’t shy away from asking for assistance.
Tap into the knowledge and wisdom of those who have gone before you. Few things are more validating for a person than when you ask them to share what they know. The world becomes much less uncertain and scary with people who have your back.
Listen to the people who want you to succeed, they, too, have been where you are upon graduation. They, too, have lived through a global pandemic that upended our way of life.
You are not alone. We all need each other as we go through live, one step at a time. You’ve completed one step. Let others help you onto the next step and every step after that.
None of us are alone if we but dare to reach out and grab a helping hand.
—LAZ