Wisdom in a cap and gown
Nancy Kennedy
Last week (as I write this), the local high schools had their graduations.
In reading the excerpts from some of the students’ speeches, this year’s crop seemed different from years past.
Less bravado and “our class will conquer the world because we’re awesome” sentiments, also less carefree.
In one local student’s speech, he said, “We are living in a time that’s complicated, chaotic and occasionally held together with duct tape and YouTube university. But that’s also what makes this moment powerful.
“Citrus students are growing up in a world that’s challenged us with pandemics, climate change, political tension, mental health struggles…We’ve been tested. And yet – you – keep showing up. With passion. With ideas. With fire in your hearts.”
A ChatGPT internet search of this year’s high school graduation speeches found that many of them reflected on significant challenges that shaped them, especially COVID and its disruption of their learning and its resulting social isolation.
Some mentioned economic and educational inequities, the challenges of engaging in civil discourse in a polarized social climate and stressful family situations.
ChatGPT also found that, despite the many speeches highlighting negatives, this year’s speeches were “imbued with optimism and a commitment to effecting positive change.
“Graduates expressed a readiness to apply the lessons learned from these obstacles to their future endeavors, demonstrating resilience and a forward-looking mindset.”
Among the student speeches from this year’s Seven Rivers Christian School graduation, which I covered for the newspaper, one student said, “Do not let your past define who you are meant to be. Find your joy in the Lord and his plan for you. Just because there are things you wish you could have changed, look to the future and learn from the past. Whether it be school, sports, or any other passion, do not let that become your identity. If you place your identity in the things you are passionate about, it will simply become your biggest stressor.”
Another one said, “To my mentors, I’ve learned from you that failure isn’t the end of the world, but an opportunity to learn. That asking for help doesn’t make you weak, it makes you wise. And that success isn’t based on grades — it’s about learning and growing.”
Then she said the Bible verse, 1 Peter 5:7, has been the verse that has given her comfort through the years.
“It says, ‘Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’ I have found peace in these words when I find myself worrying too much, and they remind me that I don’t need to have everything figured out, because the Lord has a plan for me,” she said.
On the way home I thought, “The kids are alright.”
This generation seems to have a depth and wisdom that I never had when I graduated from high school in 1973.
Back then, I did not know God the way I do now. But I know now that even then, God knew me.
He has carried me, led me, taught me, redeemed me, even when I didn’t know it.
As for 1 Peter 5:7, here’s my mash-up, paraphrased version from several Bible translations and how it has also given me comfort through the years:
“Cast all of your cares, the whole, burdensome weight of them — all your anxieties and worries and concerns — and leave them with God, because you can trust him with them, all of them, because he cares for you and about you. He has promised to give you his peace so you can sleep at night with confidence that you have a Father who loves you dearly.”
May it give you comfort in the years to come.Contact Nancy Kennedy at 352-564-2927 (leave a message) or email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.