The Covid Class

My Commencement Address to the Class of 2024

Thank you. Thank you for having me on this seminal day in your life. It is an honor to be with you on this special day. I am not unaware of the importance of this moment in your life. You, the class of 2024 have not had the experience that you may have dreamed of, and for that I am truly regretful. 

While I do not believe that regrets are productive, in the case of the collegiate experience of the class of 2024, I do have regrets. 

Four years have passed since your High School celebratory season was canceled due to a global pandemic. We followed the guidance from medical and public health experts and held you close. Many of us were scared. Very scared. It feels like a million years ago, but as we look back at the drive through celebrations and graduation photos taken on front lawns next to signs that were shoved in the grass by a masked assistant principal … it is gutting. 

As parents and adults who love you, we simply were unprepared to admit what all this meant. The guilt, frustration and disappointment were real off-shoots of this pandemic era graduation season, but we simply didn’t realize how this would be the start of four years of ‘extraordinary’ moments that became exhausting for all of us.