This past week marked major milestones for young people across the region as area high schools concluded graduation commencement ceremonies.

A renowned tradition, each late spring or early summer commencement symbolizes a special type of renewal for our region as another group of young people move into “real” life.

Graduation is one of those unique life mileposts, sort of life’s first real plot point where everything changes in an instant. The past and future meld together on a special night at every high school during a graduation ceremony and the major theme that always emerges — for however a short time — is one of hope.

Our youth, of course, are our future. Their capacity to contribute to our great Republic is never so strong nor shines as bright as when they walk across the stage at a high school and clutch a diploma

We hope all of the recent graduates find their pathway in life and become a success. We also hope all recent graduates remember that “success” can have many different meanings and what is seen as a triumph in life to one person may carry a different definition to someone else.

Life for our graduates will deliver triumphs and failures, hard times and good times. Through it all we hope those who walked out of high school and into the adult world remember to keep pushing ahead into the future and to reach for those dreams and goals that may seem distant but, in reality, are within easy reach.

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