You’ve worked hard for 13 years. Now it’s time to celebrate at graduation

Thirteen years is a long time. If you think about it, though, 13 years is a drop in the bucket to the average American life span of 78.94 years.

Thirteen years – ages 5 to 18. A collection of years when we begin forming our identities. A compilation of experiences during the most impressionable times of our lives. Also the amount of time we spend under the influence of teachers.

If I had thought about the weight of impact my actions and my words could have on the future psyche of my students before I took the first education class in college, perhaps I would have stuck with my childhood dreams of being a veterinarian or lawyer. The enormity of it all can be overwhelming.

For 13 years, teachers have the chance to make a difference, save a soul, set a course. We have the opportunity to cultivate the mind of the future doctor who will cure cancer, the engineer who will invent alternate power sources, or the checkout girl at Target with the sweetest of dispositions.

This week is graduation week – a time to celebrate the finish line with the products of our public school system. It’s also a time to be thankful for the combined efforts of our city’s teachers. From the kindergarten teacher who sits on the floor with our little ones to the senior Economics teacher who struggles to explain aggregate supply and demand, the hours of influence of our quality educators are unparalleled.

Almost every living soul recognizes the significance of graduating high school, celebrating the culmination of 13 years. This week my coworker told me of the year it poured down rain on graduation day at the Civic Center. After Jordan’s ceremony, she turned left onto Veterans headed home, wipers going full speed. She looked across the median, across the opposite lanes and saw a young man, dressed in his cap and gown walking toward the Civic Center, walking toward his own graduation ceremony, alone, no umbrella, soaking wet. There is much significance in the scene she painted for me.

We will see many balloons and flowers this week. We will see caps and gowns and Class of 2017 written everywhere. We will take pictures, shed tears, and eat cake, and we will celebrate and honor the work required to reach graduation day. The power of a diploma is something all our students will have in common. Regardless of what school is written atop the piece of paper, holding a diploma means the same to the graduate who drove himself to the Civic Center in his brand new car as it does to the one who walks there in the rain. Perhaps the roads to get there were different, but the sense of accomplishment is the same.

To many of our 2017 graduates, there are droves of people behind the accomplishment it took 13 years to achieve. Most will have an entourage escort them into and out of the Civic Center this week. And some graduates will have just 13 years worth of teachers hootin’ and hollerin’ and sheddin’ a tear when their name is called. Either way, it’s time to celebrate!

Our graduates have about 60.94 years to live out their dreams, and all can thank a teacher for giving them the tools to get there. Congrats, graduates, and thanks, teachers!

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 5:53 PM with the headline "You’ve worked hard for 13 years. Now it’s time to celebrate at graduation."