Posted by: Ann Wilson on 06.01.2010
Dear class of 2010,
On the morning of June 7, 1968 I was a confused kid. I was seventeen, and the
day before I had stood with my graduating class at our commencement ceremony at
the Seattle Opera House after narrowly achieving graduation with a 2.3 grade
average. Life at Sammamish High School had been an academic and social battle
for me so I was very happy and relieved in the moment.
We had all then headed off on a tour boat across the Puget Sound to Blake
Island for our senior class all-night party. We were wild with freedom and
bolstered by a strong sense of oneness and camaraderie not felt before or after.
We had danced all night to a live rock band, eaten barbequed salmon, rolled in
the grass, smoked and drank, roared with laughter, hugged and kissed and bragged
about the outrageous fun the summer and ever-after would hold. Many were leaving
for college in the fall, and we all felt a rare closeness as we crossed the
water back to Seattle.
In the morning light our radios were tuned to KJR (the only rock station
then) when the music was interrupted by the seriously stunned and heavy voice of
the DJ. He said that Robert Kennedy, US attorney General, civil rights champion
and brother of the late president John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in L.A.
while we had been partying. He was the third of our beloved young national
heroes bent on change to be silenced in our short lives.
The air left our lungs. Everyone was mortally shocked. We were all still
assimilating the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in April of that same year,
and JFK himself had been shot when we were in 8th grade. The war in Vietnam
raged and escalated. Despite our desperately beautiful young dreams, many of the
boys on that very boat would be drafted before the summer was over, and we knew
many wouldn't come home. As we chugged along, all fell silent; wide eyes looking
into each other with deep, ominous revelation. There was a big, terrifying world
out there screaming, full of tragedy, injustice, rage and hatred. We had
graduated from high school and thrown our jubilation up to the starry June sky,
but the next morning the world was still badly broken. Though they had tried,
our parents hadn't been able to fix it. Now it was our turn. It was very
confusing.
Until that moment none of us had thought of graduation as anything other than
the joyful shout of " Mission Accomplished! " Hats in the air! Tears of
happiness....Freedom! Suddenly, in that moment, it was as if a yoke had been
lowered onto our young shoulders. " Fix the world " it seemed to say to us, "
It's up to you now. Turn back the doomsday clock, heal the environment, kill
hatred between people, make there be enough food, medical care, education and
opportunity for everybody! End war...somehow. Step into the worn and battered
shoes our parents walked in. Change everything. Don't screw it up,
youngster...congratulations, the world is yours. Now get to work."
Some girls whimpered. Some guys moaned. Everybody grabbed each other and held
tight in silence as dawn came up around the Space Needle and a boatload of kids
floated toward adulthood on a Seattle pier.
I tell you this story because I know some of you are now feeling something
akin to what we felt that morning so long ago, when another one of our bright
dreams was dashed in the face of cruel reality. Maybe some of you feel a little
overwhelmed at thoughts of your place in the future. Maybe you feel cynical
about whether it's even worth your energy to try and make change in this
narcissistic, dysfunctional world. Some might be thinking, "What's left for my
generation? Joblessness, helplessness and a dying planet! Endless war
threatening to extinguish all hope of a bright future. Is it possible these days
to break free of the vice-like grip of major corporations bent on rape and
plunder, while politicians and pundits rave and blunder on...and everything is
analyzed, re-analyzed and dissected to no effect on the 24 hour news cycle? "
Let me tell you something.
You are nothing less than life renewing itself. In you is a brand new chance;
a chance to break away from the repetitive old patterns that bind humanity. You
are the powerful rebirth of energy, idealism and brainpower. There never has
been a generation like you. You are global AND local. You are brilliant AND
simple. You are strong and toned intellectually, while having the ability to
laugh at yourselves AND everyone else! You Rock (though you would say that in a
much more creative way) and you have already gone where previous generations
haven't. They never could. You are the freshlit torch by which all standing
behind your shoulder can see. Your parents' generation and all those before them
sought the truth as they saw it, just as you will seek it now with your clear
eyes, strong will and a clean slate.
The world has always been and will always be a work in progress and the
problems you inherit are dense and tangled, but don't let cynicism and fear
paralyze you or keep you from action. It is up to every generation to put its
mark on the skin of society. Let yours be a beautiful, colorful, healing and
honest mark. An aggressive mark! Try new things. Try everything. Try your best,
and if that doesn't work, go at it from another, different best angle and try
again. Talk to people. Try to understand them. Help them to understand you. Keep
at it and find a way to work together so a new bridge can be built to another
future yet undreamed of by anyone! Learn from history, but make it up as you go
along. Break rules and make better ones! Dare to believe in Love...it could
happen in your time, and if you can conceive of Peace, and are willing to work
for it, then that is possible too. Your ideas and dreams are wonderful, and they
are your tools for changing the world, so be uncompromising about them. This is
your wave to ride, so ride it all the way up the beach and if you fall and are
tossed and turned underwater, swim with all your might to the surface, grab a
deep breath, and jump on again.
Enjoy the ride!
Take it from one who scraped by with a 2.3 and has gone on to a deeply
interesting and exciting life; anything is possible. Aim high! Listen to your
inner voice and don't take no for an answer. Above all...be yourself. Do these
things and the world WILL be a better place...one soul at a time.
I wish each and every one of you my congratulations on getting here. Now go
out and get 'em. The whole amazing world is waiting!
Good Luck!!
Ann Wilson
Reproduced by permission from Heart
The original article and more can be found on the official Heart website: http://www.heart-music.com
Do you have a graduation story to tell? Please post it below in the comments.