As April bleeds into May, graduation season is upon us once more.
College students, high schoolers and kindergarteners alike will soon be donning the traditional cap and gown, marching through the graduation procession and receiving a ceremonious diploma placeholder (diplomas to be mailed over at a later date).
So many of my own friends are graduating this May, and I wish you all the best of luck! I can’t wait to sit through your three-hour ceremony this weekend. It’s going to be so much fun.
As thousands turn their tassels and enter into a new phase of life this month, it may seem like a daunting chapter is upon you. But I’m here to tell you not to be afraid. It can seem intimidating, becoming a “real adult” and embarking on something new.
But this is what you’ve been working towards your whole life! Everything you’ve done, every exam you sweat over, each paper you struggled to write was to get over this hill. Take a deep breath, you did it!
Whether you’re graduating to continue onto higher education or you’re finally done with school, don’t be scared to leave this chapter behind. Hopefully, the memories of this time are filled with awesome friends and great adventures that you can always look back on fondly. But life is what you make it, and you don’t have to “peak” at any one point. You can choose to keep making your life better and better.
As young adults across the country leave behind cities they’ve grown to love and friends who have become family, I want to tell you not to worry that you’ll lose those people.
Yes, you may not live within 200 feet of all your closest friends anymore. It’s going to require some more intentionality to keep those relationships thriving. But isn’t a relationship that exists on intentionality rather than convenience something special?
In no way am I faulting relationships built on proximity – so many of my closest friends have been found that way. But keeping up with people whom you only see a handful of times each year is the mark of true friendship.
To my college friends: You are all going to do great things. And sure, our dynamics might change in the years to come. But you know what they say – the friends you make in college are the friends you keep forever.
To graduates everywhere: appreciate these last few days you have. Though you may not know when you and all your friends will be in the same room together again, don’t doubt that it’ll happen. And the world is truly your oyster, so go do great things and become who you’ve always wanted to be.
Congratulations to the class of 2025!
Kate Verity is the news editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at kverity@covnews.com.
