05/24/2026
To the class of 2026
It’s crazy how time flies. You were once a kid graduating kindergarten, and now you are an adult graduating high school. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD, EVERYBODY.
The world doesn’t stop, and it doesn’t slow down for us, so you have to cherish every moment. Soak up the good and the bad moments. Love the people around you. Apologize and move on with the people that hurt you. (That is a hard one for me to do.) Be friends with your enemies because time does not stop. The world does not stop.
Look at us Weren’t we just kids yesterday? We did not have to think about this whole “I’m gonna graduate high school” thing. High school was so far away. Last time I checked, being an adult was so far away, but still the world does not stop when we think it will. That is what makes saying goodbye so much harder.
You think, “One more kick, one more hit, one more party, one more long night hanging out with friends, one more practice, one more lunch in the cafeteria.” This is why we have to soak up and cherish these moments because we were all once kindergartners, then we blinked and we graduated high school. We become adults so fast, and suddenly it is time to figure out what comes next.
We will no longer be the kids playing on the field for football, or doing cheerleading, dunking hoops, hitting a bunt in baseball, taking pictures for sports, getting set up for fundraisers, having to study in weird places (yes, I had to do that even as a homeschooler), or hitting golf balls for a sport. We will be those parents and family members cheering our kids on from the stands, or wherever we are, helping them with whatever they need, watching them do the thing they love, remembering what it was like for us to be on a field, to take pictures, to be a kid.
We only get that chance once. The best advice I can give you is soak it all up while you can. You are still young. You still have a lot of things to do before you can officially call ourselves adults.
Graduating is scary. Being an adult is scary, but that is what makes it so fun. I know you are not ready to say goodbye
Remember, life does not stop, so soak up the good, soak up the bad, because we still have a whole life to live. No matter how old we get, we can still have fun with our life.
