For almost everyone in North America, high school graduation is a significant milestone.
Granted, grad has changed over the years.
It’s become a bigger, more drawn out and expensive occasion, influenced by what we see south of the border and on TV.
But at its heart it remains an important rite of passage, marking the transition from one part of life to another – from a teen under the watchful eye of others to independence, adulthood, and finding your own place in the world.
It’s also a public ritual – unlike university graduation or marriage – in which almost all of us take part.
For better or worse, our high school experience is formative, one we carry with us into adulthood. Graduation marks the end of that.
All of which makes this year’s lack of graduation so unsettling. Grads this year have been dealt a lousy hand – among the many lousy hands dealt by this pandemic.
Efforts to give the grads a virtual stand-in are certainly praise-worthy.
They don’t replace a real experience, but they offer some kind of completion.
There will be other occasions and moments for today’s graduates to shine in the years ahead.
But grads this year will hold a special place in history, coming of age at a time of crisis when the future is far from clear.
Their ability to look the situation in the eye, and move beyond it with a sense of perspective are admirable qualities.
We’ll need their spirit of resilience in the times ahead.
Hats off to the Class of 2020.
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