To The East Kentwood Graduating Class of 2013

First of all, I want to say congratulations on your graduation, and that you've made my time at Kentwood one of the best teaching experiences any new teacher could hope for. You've assured me I'm in the right profession and you've reminded me what is important in life.

So good job...

I'm so proud of you... 

And never forget how valuable you are as students, as human beings, and as shapers of the future world...

[What Follows] is Not a Lesson in Morality or Growing Up, But You Should Still Read It 

Five years ago, I was in your position (for those of you who have spent all this time guessing and wondering, that does, in fact, make me only 23). I was preparing for graduation from high school (and later college), and I was scared out of my mind because that meant the rest of the world was out there, waiting to snatch me up and put me in my niche and use me. And I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to fit in or what I was supposed to do or if I’d fail miserably at it. And I stood behind that podium at graduation, looked out at some three thousand parents and family members and friends (gah), and some 380 classmates, and I did my best to give a motivational, moving speech about how much potential our lives had and the amazing things we would all do.

This is not that speech. Nor is it a speech at all. It’s me tying up loose ends, because for you to graduate without me doing so would feel unfinished, and I think highly enough of you all that I feel you deserve a glowing, pride-filled affirmation from someone who loves and respects you as much as it is possible for an individual to love and respect another. And while I’m certain you’ll do anything to which you set your mind, what I want to say here is that I believe in you. Because I feel like you don’t get to hear that enough.

In the eyes of (a large portion, but not all, of) the world, the youth is a generation of degenerate, drug-using, sexually promiscuous hoodlums who cannot be trusted based solely on the principle that they are young. And I want to tell you that’s just a foul stereotype, and this generation, this graduating class, is more than capable of turning that stereotype on its head. Because I taught you for three months (only three months), and I saw intellect and hard work and compassion, sacrifice, dedication and maturity, even the other-wordly ability to step out of your self-center and comprehend that there is something bigger of which you are apart. I saw students who held political opinions, who supported themselves through hard work at jobs they may have had no choice in the matter to work, who took responsibility for their failures and could therefore celebrate their successes all the more sincerely. I saw adults---by obligation or by choice---who were well on their way to self-sufficiency. I saw confidence grow, and I saw self-respect, and I saw self-restraint in the face of adversity, which is more than I can say for many of the adults in my life.

I believe you will all make great additions to the “real world,” the rat-race, the place where too many adults settle for something that is not, in their heart, their destiny. I believe the planet could be changed for the better by inventions of your design, or laws of your making, or simple actions on your part that are done without thinking and solely because they are right. I believe you will find the right person for you, you will find them at the right time in your life, and you will be better for having found them. I believe you will develop a set of morals and ethics and ideals that will guide your life in the right direction, but I also believe you will be humble and modest enough to admit mistakes can be made and that you can be the one to make them. I believe you will revolutionize the music or fashion industry, you will engineer new technology to make our world better and safer, you will be the best stay at home mothers or fathers there have ever been, maybe even that some of you will consider passing on your knowledge to the next generation of learners. 

I believe you’ve learned enough in your first eighteen years to help end injustice and oppression, to speak eloquently against ignorance, and to advocate to those without a voice or the means to advocate for themselves. I believe you will pay forward the blessings you have received in your lives to those who desire but do not have access to such blessings. I believe you will let your hardships play a positive role in who you become. I believe that even if you falter and find yourself in the darkness of failure or addiction or doubt or mediocrity, that you can overcome that which pulls you down. I believe that, if you live your lives conscious of the imprint you are making on this planet, that you can, through memories of your good deeds and the lives you’ve improved, live forever.

I hope you believe that, too.

I hope you never forfeit the persistence and determination to decide you want a better life for yourself than people expect of you. I hope you utilize your natural ability and work hard to achieve that to which you set your mind. I hope you understand how valuable compassion and dedication are both to your relationships, to your dreams, and to helping your relationships achieve their dreams. I hope you never take for granted the three pounds of grey matter between your ears, that you realize it is that brain---your brain and no one else’s---that decides who you are or who you date or what you do with your life. I hope the people who hurt your feelings toughen your skin, because the world is harsh and cruel at times but if you survive that it is welcoming and wonderful. I hope you keep tabs on everyone who ever told you that you can’t so you can show them that you have. I hope you thank the people who gave you the opportunity to discover yourself in an environment where you could safely explore all aspects of your potential. I hope you are brave enough to step out of the comfort zone you have spent your whole life constructing and view the world from beyond it, be it traveling to a different country or taking a class solely because the topic seems interesting or talking to a complete stranger just because you like their shoelaces. And I hope you’re brave enough to go to a movie alone (and maybe even cry over the movie by yourself) and listen to your music and read your books just because they make you happy. 

I hope you learn when to compromise and when to never waver. I hope you never let a person break your spirit, but also that you know when second chances are appropriate. I hope you sacrifice when others are in need, but also that you know when a person is poison and needs to be put on a shelf. I hope you know memories are crucial to your development, but that living in the past dements your future. I hope you know that you can be charitable without being exploited, that you can be kind without being a pushover, and that you can change your mind without being a hypocrite. I hope you cherish your good days. I hope you learn from your bad ones. I hope you take a second out of each day to feel your lungs expand, feel your life, albeit it a hard one sometimes, continue, and put the most into that life every day you have it. I hope you listen to your heartbeat and feel the heat of your skin and stare at your hands until they look oddly extraordinary, because too often we take for granted that we are alive and we are the only one of our kind and that no one could ever do what we do or how we do it.

Most of all, and I cannot express adequately in words how sincerely I hope this (above everything else, actually), I hope you love yourself and see all of the perfection in you that I saw, and the value and the humor and the spectacular individuality.

You don’t have to have every second of every year of your life figured out. And if you think you’ve got it figured out, you don’t have to stay on that path if it turns out to be wrong. We are human because we choose. We are human because we fail and hurt and cry and get discouraged. We are human because we doubt and because we break and because sometimes we allow our anger or jealousy to get the best of us and cause inconvenience to others. We are human because, sometimes, we act disgracefully. But we are also human because we rise from the ashes of each disappointment, each failure, each mistake, and we move forward. So in that way, I suppose we are the most magnificent creation or chance evolution or whatever you call it to ever have existed.

We must not squander that gift, that privilege. We must not overlook that responsibility.

I’m proud to have had those few months to teach you, to learn from you, and to watch you learn and teach each other. And had I been given only minutes as your teacher, I would be equally as proud. And if I could speak a million words on your behalf, they would not be enough to show the world your potential, your heart, your persistence, your perfection in all your imperfections, and your ability to grow and think and create. Plus, you’ve spent the last eighteen years of your life reading for information, so I should probably spare you the trouble of a million words when, ultimately, these 1,745 can say it just as well.

I have complete faith in the students of East Kentwood, the Graduating Class of 2013, to achieve their goals, to improve their lives, and to positively impact the entirety of the world spread out before them. And I wait anxiously from the sideline to witness your successes, bursting with pride for having known you.

Best wishes in everything you do, a congratulations for everything in your future you will achieve, and I say for the millionth time, if there is anything I can do to help you succeed in any way, do not hesitate to ask.

Miss Pretzer
kelsey.L.pretzer@gmail.com