It’s not as easy as some parents think …

It is a time to congratulate those who are graduating from high school or college because it’s not the easiest part of life, although it is different from the years that will follow.

Take, for example, high school graduates. They have gone from years of moving from teacher to teacher, all placing different demands on them, all controlling their every move right down to having to ask for permission just to use the restroom.

They have had a full-time job of learning, followed with having to do even more school work at home, along with chores, plus additional work to earn a small allowance. In addition, they have participated on teams and in school organizations and have contributed in community activities and at church.

As they entered adolescence, many of them took on (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not) part-time jobs in addition to their full-time job of becoming educated and maintaining responsibilities at home, at church, and in the community. Many of them took on additional activities in school in an effort to earn scholarships for college.

Many of these students have been working at a pace a lot of adults do not, and have been directed and loaded with expectations by others at a level most adults are not. And in the midst of all this busyness and the whirlwind of demands and expectations on them, they have been changing and growing from a child, to an adolescent, to a young adult, trying to build their identity and find a place for them in the world.

Are these really the easiest years of their lives?

For some, perhaps they will be. For others, settling down to a job with some personal autonomy will be easier. But to go through everything they have experienced in their “educational career” and actually cross the finish line and end well deserves our respect, along with a hearty congratulations.

So to the class of 2013, congratulations and best wishes for a different and blessed future!

Scotty