A Letter from the Heartland: The Class of 2022
Oh the places they’ve been
In doing my final year visits with high school seniors, getting their perspectives is always interesting. They have life all figured out. All you have to do is ask them. Being in rural southern Indiana, students are excited to see the world. Some are going to the local technical college to earn credits (English 101 is the same, whether at Harvard or Lansing Community College).
Others are entering the military, and my mind can’t help but wonder about the situations they’ll find themselves in with the rising tension around the world. Others are entering the workforce wanting to earn money and get out of the school schedule and academic workload, which is understandable.
I think about how this group has faced. Their sophomore year was stopped three-quarters of the way through because of COVID. Their junior year was on again and off again because of various waves. They do not realize the circumstances they have faced and that it will help them handle other challenging situations they will face in years to come. Seeing the industry’s struggles firsthand over the last two years was also humbling to see how many students want to enter the medical field.
Some students might be a little ambitious to get out of town and enroll in a campus that is three sizes as big as the county where they were born and raised. My last advice to them (they were thankful) is never to limit themselves as they enter the next phase. Graduating high school offers some people a reset, those who weren’t the most popular get a chance to re-introduce themselves to a new group of people. It’s a chance to study subjects they like and meet like-minded people forming new friendships that will last the rest of their lives.
As I transition out of my position, I will always think about this group. I took over my job their sophomore year of high school, and we went through the pandemic together and adjusted to the new normal. In a way, we faced the same adversity together. I have the utmost confidence that they will be successful, and they will have no bigger cheerleader than me.
