To the Elementary Graduates of 2020!

Wow! Look at you, from the ginger bread houses, you are now moving on to middle school. You may not realize this, but the truth is, your elementary school is the only school where you have spent the longest time. Every other school after this will be shorter 🙂 So graduating from elementary school is just as much a big deal as graduating from high school. This is where you learnt to how read, write, jumprope, run the mile, do pushups, play an instrument, make friends, say sorry and even tie a shoelace, so CELEBRATE YOURSELF TODAY!

I know amidst the pandemic and the era of Dr. MLK coming alive, we have written off the year 2020 as the year of negatives and it is hard to see the brilliance of yourself in these times, but at this moment, I want you to pause and think. Think of all the amazing experiences you have had. You Zoomed by, unlike any other class. There were no warnings, and through your sheer tenacity and resilience you navigated the world of online learning, completed every assignment, project without the “normal” and structure of your classroom. You grew up!

Growing up is a process and we slowly learn to grow up.
2020 is and will continue to be your learning moment. You never judge the book by its cover, so don’t judge this year by its face. It is true 2020 brought forward our worst fears. It literally slapped us in our faces, screamed at us and forced all the grown ups to acknowledge their failure. And we grown ups don’t like that. But You, the class of 2020, showed us the true meaning of “adapting to a situation.”

The class of 2020, You are Inspiring.

There will always be the question, “Am I doing enough?” The answer is YES. The middle school pathways are not going to define your success. You will. Here’s a little secret for you, we grown ups expect tweens and teens to write apps, build devices and find solutions to global problems, when the truth is we ourselves are mostly stumped. And because we are stumped, we are so afraid, we do what we know best – ask you to study harder. So my dear elementary graduate, don’t ask the question “Am I doing enough?” but rather tell the world, you are doing enough because you are being mindful and putting your heart into it. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in learning to code, and write apps, and if that’s what speaks to you, by all means go for it. But if baking makes you happy, be proud and please do that. If experimenting with acrylic colors makes you happy, please do that. Every artist is a scientist first, the experimentation of different materials, the choice of colors, shapes and textures to convey a unique perspective, no textbook can teach you that. So dear elementary graduate, don’t be bogged down by the noise of math pathways and college admissions. It’s just noise. learn to zone it out and do your thing.

Middle school is when you build yourself one day at time. You will learn to manage your time so you are always ahead of it and not running behind it, you will explore new horizons and expand your interests and perceptions, you will learn to appreciate different perspective and accept without judgement, you will fail (yes it happens) and rise stronger and more confident, and most importantly you will learn to study. If you can do all of this, you will rock life and high school will then be a piece of cake, the grades will come and the much coveted college application will take care of itself 🙂

Dear Elementary Graduate – 2020 is not the year of negatives, but rather it is the year which forced us to pause, think and it is THE YEAR that will BRING CHANGE and YOU are the CHANGE MAKERS

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2020!