"Dear Children of the Universe" - Part Three

 

No quotes today.  There just is not one appropriate quote to explain how each one of your teachers, your parents, are feeling right now.  You have finished the MOST difficult school years in history.  AND...if you have studied history, the last pandemic we suffered through was in the early to mid 1900's.  You, my dears have made history.  Because you have made history, you need to do the following:

• Be grateful and show gratitude - Show gratitude for the education you received.  Show gratitude to your loved ones.  They may have not always been able to help you with your math homework but they want the best for you and you should honor that by passing each course.
• If you want to survive in this world, you need to work even harder now.  We are all operating at a deficit.  All of us...From this point on, you need to plan for a future that will allow you to survive on your own, fully employed and independent despite the circumstances because that is what strong people do.  They persevere.
• Wake up!  None of you should have failed one single class.  Your teachers designed the curriculum so that you would succeed. They took into consideration every single variable.  Some of you went missing in action.  Why? I will forever be haunted by the very fact that those who disappeared did not see that value of their academics.  You chose to fail instead of ask for help.  You chose to fail because you saw no way out.  The question of "Why?" will always haunt me.
• For those who succeeded during this extremely difficult time, thank yourselves and treat yourselves well.  You worked so incredibly hard.  You pushed through the negativity and the anxiety and you are very close to building a better future and a better world. Why does this matter? YOU, are all responsible for what happens next.  You need to put food on your tables.  You will have mortgages.  You will need to hold down a job and take direction from a superior.  You should view success as something very personal.  It's called "pride."

Lastly, here is a true confession.  Anxiety and fear are real emotions.  As your teacher, those emotions were felt each and every single day of this school year because I worried about each and every one of you.  Life is all about choices.  We can either choose to give up and hide or not.  The alternative however, will provide you with so much pride and so much strength you will never, ever forget this time in your life.  The day I graduated from high school was so emotional.  I knew it was the last time I would be protected by my teachers.  Your teachers protected you and I bet you did not even notice. So, "Children of the Universe,"  this year ends like no other.  It will be like no other.  Our fears and our frustrations were all legitimate and now, now we have to process where we go from here.  The summer is here.  Jump in a lake, a pool.  Get outside and be ready to come to school in the fall, ready to take responsibility for yourselves and your success.