^ Closing a Chapter

We attended a graduation today. It was verymuch a closing door on a portion of our lives that has been demanding anddraining. It is good to get closure on it, to feel it is done, that we can moveon now. But the next challenge is already before us, to “do something” with theeducation we’ve purchased! So the next transition already beings.

In the commencement address, several thingswere said about “Generation Y,” and I found that I identified with most of thedescriptors, even though I’m at the outside edge of Generation X: more likelyto go out and do something than just throw money at an issue; heavily involvedwith their friends as opposed to their families; deeply and persistently“wired” via electronic gadgetry. I have long felt anachronistic, veryfrequently “ahead of my curve” in both tastes and opinions. (If I believed inreincarnation, I’d like to think I’m Alice Paul or Lucy Stone from the women’ssuffrage movement.)

Another interesting comment made by the commencement speaker: that people need someone to believe in them first in order to get them off the ground. It made me think about who might have helped me get off the ground, and I know I have English teachers who helped mold me into a writer. But did they really "believe" in me? Ultimately I decided that I have had many people who did this for me, who continue to do this for me. I can only hope that I'm repaying them by doing so for others.