By: Jackie Warner
High school and college graduations are all around us… and some students are moving to another grade or another school. When thinking of graduation, many ponder about the end of what has been their lives for several years…friends, life events, people, and perspectives…
Graduation announcements for the commencement ceremonies have been addressed and sent in honor those who have reached these significant milestones in life.
Commencement refers to the beginning, a start of something, and in an academic context, this ceremony signifies you’re starting the next phase of your life — whether it is pursuing higher education, a job, military service, etc. — it’s a new beginning.
We all must transition both mentally and physically for a new start, a new beginning in life. It’s okay to look back and appreciate what you should take with you, totally understanding you can’t stay where you are intended to leave.
1. Honor your past experiences; this is your history which has helped navigate you to
the present.
2. Find Joy in the present; it is all we have.
3. Embrace your next chapter – Your future – Live! As the famous author Dr. Seuss expressed in his last book published before his death, “Oh, the places you’ll go!”
I am reminded of when my children were graduating and saying their goodbyes, heading off to college; it was a new beginning for them, but I quickly realized it was also a new beginning for me — saying goodbye to the parenting life I had known and having to embrace a new life of parenting from afar.
It was an unfamiliar “Hello” to a new me understanding how to navigate my own newfound beginning!
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” (Soren Kierkegaard)
By: Jackie Warner
Career Development Facilitator
“Impact, Engage, Grow” Community Matters
December 20, 2024
