To the Class of 2017

To the Lake Region Class of 2017:

I’ve heard you all complain before,

You really wish that we’d done more

To truly prepare you for independence.

Poised now on the edge of a new freedom,

You might find yourself feeling feelings,

Looking back wondering what it was all for.

By the time I finish this bit of poetry

I hope that you may come to agree with me

That the purpose of school was always to set you free.

I know there were times when this place felt like a prison.

I admit that sometimes it’s been hard to convince you it isn’t.

Bells went off and roll was called,

We caught you when you wandered halls,

And made you work when grades did fall.

Even when you were successful,

Assignments seemed useless, boring, and stressful.

You passed through a system of confinement

By checking off requirements

Without a thought to what they might have meant.

True at times, and in some ways realistic,

But wouldn’t you agree this perspective’s awfully pessimistic?

It interprets past learning as merely mindless practice

For a life spent working, waiting for death, and paying taxes.

As if school and life were like wearing pants while swimming

And it’s so easy to get trapped in that way of thinking.

But you have the power to tell a different story

To save yourself from viewing life like purgatory.

So sit in this space now and start a reflection.

Reinterpret the past to launch your future in a new direction.

Look again at what school has been all about.

Each day in class you had the opportunity

To study the world, what it is, was, and still might be.

We pushed you to reach your fullest potential

Because we knew someday you’d all be influential.

See, this ain’t no prison -

Empowerment has been our only mission,

Giving you the tools to make your own decisions.

Without examining the world in all of its complexity,

You might find yourself confined to living by necessity

Now you’ve studied the world and formed your own opinions

And grown into people who are thoughtful, loving, and driven.

The world’s pretty crazy, no doubt about it,

So use your power to make it how you want it.

Take the messiness the past has given to you -

Resist it, love it, change it -

Do whatever you can to make it new.

Each and every one of you is coming together

To understand the state we’re in,

Stopping and thinking and working to make it better.

You’re listening to more voices, making new friends.

The fate of our future all depends

On your ability to transcend

The problems of the past. And boy, I know you’re ready.

Whether I’m thinking local or global,

Our four years together have made me turn hopeful.

I'm excited to see what you can do with each present moment ahead of you. But for now, celebrate this moment, and accept my most heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS.