To
the Class of 2016
By
Albert B. Kelly
Looking
back, I had intended to write a brief message to the Bridgeton High School
graduating class of 2016. I wanted to do this partly because, for many months
now, I’ve been steeped in data about you- our youth; everything from graduation
and unemployment rates to juvenile crime, voting and workforce development.
You’ve
been on my mind, because you are the future of this community, not to mention
our country. It’s important stuff and it demands our attention- meaning us
adults, because we need some of you who are going away to college to actually
come back with your skills and talents to help propel us forward.
I
also wanted to write because for others, this achievement of graduating high
school can’t, or at least shouldn’t be, the high point of your life- but a
stepping stone to better things. Yet I fear that for too many, it might just be
the high point; not because you’re incapable, but because you’ve been led to a
place where you don’t expect much more for yourself. This ought not to be.
I had
intended to say this much and more, but then it all seemed a little less
important when I heard the news about Daisia Sulton and Mikayla Moseley and the
tragic accident that took them from their families, their classmates, and our
community only hours after graduation; this news on the heels of the crash that
took Luz DelaCruz-Antonio 2 weeks prior.
It’s
hard to know what to say. Our lives are fragile, but I suspect you’ve always
known this, yet somehow it seems a little more so when that fragileness gets
held up against the happy images of these beautiful young people in the
springtime of their lives, smiling and hopeful and ready for whatever the
future has in store for them.
I
suppose some of what I would have said to the graduating class of 2016 would
have been about persistence and not giving up no matter how confusing and
sketchy things happen to get as you make your way into adulthood.
Some
of you will try and find work, so you’ll need persistence and a “never-give-up”
attitude, especially when the unemployment rate in the county is just below 39%
among 16-19 year-olds. So finding a job won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible.
Of course after that, it’s all about keeping the job.
I was
hoping to encourage all graduates to not stop your education, but to keep going
and keep reaching because a high school diploma is not what it used to be.
Because even some entry level jobs require some type of credential and while it
might not seem to matter much right now, it soon will and it will matter
quickly. County College is a great place to start.
Some
of you in the class of 2016 will soon become parents, whether intended or not.
If that should be the case, then raising your child should be one of the high
points of your life even as it complicates it. I encourage you to do it well
because there are few things more important.
It
was my intent to tell those who barely graduated, along with those who should
have but didn’t- that it’s easy to make bad choices and by “bad” I mean taking
shortcuts; to money, respect, power, credibility, whatever. Short cuts don’t
work in the end; neither do excuses or “victimhood”.
But
that leads me to the other thing I would have said; basically that things
aren’t always fair, life can be hard, extremely hard, but still worth your best
efforts. A strong faith is important and sometimes it’s the only thing that
sees you through, the thing you tie knot in so you can hold on tight until you
get the wind at your back again.
These
are some of the things I would have said, but my thoughts come back to Daisia
Sulton, Mikayla Moseley, Luz DeLaCruz-Antonio and three heartbroken families.
Just as my thoughts are with Zyiah Stocks and Jada Barriengo as they fight to
get well again.
We
can’t know what Daisia, Mikayla, Luz would have accomplished in life; nor can
we know what would have amounted to their joys or sorrows or frustrations.
That’s a very hard thing to accept and it always will be for those who knew
them and loved them most.
Maybe
for the class of 2016, it’s enough to remember them smiling.