Dear Graduate
I loved snow days when I was a kid. How about you?
From first grade to college graduation I prayed for them. They were a gift delivered by the morning radio guy before my alarm even went off. The local weatherman (the ultimate friend with benefits) saved the day: a roll over and go back to sleep day; a hall pass on the quiz I didn’t study for; an unexpected recess of the best kind. A “perfect” storm. Why? Because it was the grown ups’ problem to manage. They took on the trickle down effect of changed plans, icy conditions, treacherous roads, cancelled appointments, finding sitters, make up days, rescheduling lost time. We kids got off scot-free, not a care in the world, in fact, we never felt better…
I feel guilty about that now. My naïveté, my narcissism, my blissful dismissal of a valuable school day Ferris Bueller style. And I feel doubly so as I look at the class of 2020 – the high school and college seniors whose past present and future has been eclipsed by a monstrous storm that has buried not only the adults who love them but the world who was waiting for them.
This class is very different than most of us. They’ve had to grow up faster than most of us. They’ve had to be braver than most of us. It got me thinking more about these kids who were born in 1998 and 2002 give or take. Yes, their proms were cancelled. Yes, their graduations will be virtual. Yes, they hardly got to say goodbye to school hallways, favorite teachers, and their childhood friends. They were asked to move fast and swiftly to empty their lockers and head home permanently. Theirs was a snow day of blinding proportions. In quarantine they’ve acclimated to zoom learning, visit friends via drive-by’s, put away their prom dresses, parked their senior pranks, bid adieu to summer internships, stopped dating, while enduring bothersome younger siblings and nagging mothers. They’re getting a real taste of old-fashioned boredom of a very visceral kind. For years they’ve watched from the sidelines, older siblings and the classes before them enjoying the revered rituals of life as a senior. They waited their turn and worked non-stop for a right they’ve earned, only to be punctuated by a pandemic. And yet this disappointment they will overcome.
But what must be remembered and respected and valued about the class of 2020 are the other things they’ve endured as children that sadly have been woven into the fabric of their generation. They were born into a world with school shootings (Columbine 1999) and terrorist attacks (World Trade Center 2001). These fears are part of their collective experience, part of the dialogue. It’s robbed the carefree side of childhood and required them to be brave just to step out of the house and into school -- a burden that no child should have to bear. They carry the weight of experience and burden. This weight matters for future generations. And this value they will bring.
These are children of the digital age. They are masters of that universe which I witness every time I engage my young Valslist interns for a project. They navigate their digital and mobile devices with such deftness, with a nimble high speed touch, and facile ‘multi-tasking focus’ (a made up oxymoron but somehow they possess this skill). This process is quite literally second nature to them, an undeniable 7th sense. Their ability to adeptly adapt to these modern tools and the incessant iterations that come with them (as extensions of their fingers and brains) has made them a necessity in today’s society at all levels. From internships, to start ups, to non-profits, to corporate -- in math, science, creative arts, business, research, global affairs, diplomacy, and politics -- we need these kids to keep our world afloat. They do it better than us, they enhance us. And we need to take care of them, tune in to them, hire them, listen to them. They bring a new perspective and bridge the gap between assumption and proof. On this we will depend.
As a mother and a self-proclaimed dreamer, I fear one big downside to their digital dynasty: their world is not quiet. It’s filled with chatter + distraction + devices + banter + obsessions + information; a veritable rat race. It’s not their fault, it’s all they know. They had smart devices as toddlers. They were 5 and 9 when the iPhone and Spotify were invented (2007) - they’ve always held a phone and they’ve never paid for music. They were 2 and 6 when iTunes launched (2003). Texting is a second language (invented 1992). They were 3 and 7 when YouTube & Twitter launched (2004). Facebook launched in 2002 and they were 6 and 10 when it opened for 13+ age group (2007). Their birth years were shared with the birth of the iPod (as well as Sponge Bob, Harry Potter, American Idol, Lord of the Rings, Spider Man) and ironically Eminem’s iconic song “Lose Yourself”. And this is their moment. They own it.
My hope is that this quarantine has given them some quiet time to think and reflect and get to know themselves even better, on a deeper level.
The Class of 2020 has a unique opportunity to help fix a whole lot of broken things that this pandemic has perpetrated. The infrastructure and set-in-our-ways model has suffered a seismic shift. In a mere three months’ time we may be witnessing the obliteration of concepts like skyscraper living, commuting to work, handshake deals, festival mosh pits, one night stands, corporate events, daycare, college dorms and nursing homes… We need to rebuild, but even more so, we need to rethink everything. If anyone can step up to the plate it’s the youngest in our task force. The Class of 2020. And they will make their mark.
In the words of one of their iconic music heroes Billie Eilish, “I had a dream. I got everything I wanted. Not what you'd think. And if I'm being honest, it might've been a nightmare...”
This week’s playlist is a salute to the high school & college seniors who have not gotten everything they’ve wanted but are braving the storm to find a better horizon. Godspeed.
DEAR GRAD: YOU'VE BEEN VALSLISTED
PS: This is a celebratory playlist! Please take a moment to listen (click on the link above) & share with a graduate.
PSS: Do you have a song you'd like to see added to the playlist? I'd love to hear from you.
In music,
Val