Class of 2020, 'You don't have to accept the world as it is'

[Zorro]

Given the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, schools across the country have canceled their in-person commencement exercises. To celebrate the graduates whose final years of school have been upended, former first lady Michelle Obama and former president Barack Obama are taking part in a YouTube special. This is President Obama’s address to the Class of 2020.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! Some of you have graduated already; some of you still have finals; all of you should be very proud.

Graduation is a big achievement under any circumstances. Yours comes as the world is turned upside down by a pandemic, and by a country that has been swept up by protest.

I can barely imagine how head-spinning these last few months have been for you. Just as winter was thawing and you were thinking about spring break, those of you who were away at college were either whisked home or stayed behind on a shuttered campus. Most of you had to finish semesters online — which had its ups and downs. You didn’t have to worry about what you wore to class, but watching your teachers and professors try to work Zoom wasn’t always pretty either. Either way, none of this is how any of you imagined finishing your final spring at school.

Even if we can’t all gather in person, I want you to remember that a graduation ceremony doesn’t celebrate just a moment in time. It’s the culmination of all your years of learning — about the world and about yourself. The friends and family who supported you every step of the way — they aren’t celebrating a piece of paper. They’re celebrating you: how you’ve grown, the challenges you’ve overcome and the experiences you’ve shared. You can see that love in all the amazing ways that families have come up with their own at-home graduations, from drive-by parades to handmade yard signs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/07/barack-obama-class-2020-you-dont-have-accept-world-it-is/