It can be difficult to see the whole picture when you are still inside the frame, but I hope you wear these uncommon circumstances as a badge of honor.
Those who meet times of historical challenge with their eyes and hearts open-forever restless and forever striving-are also those who leave the greatest impact on the lives of others.
In every age, life has a frustrating way of reminding us that we are not the sole autors of our story: We must share credit, whether we'd like to or not, with a difficult and selfish collaborator called our circumstances.
And when our glittering plans are scrambled, as they often will be, and our dearest hopes are dashed, as will sometimes happen, we are left with a choice.
We can curse the loss of something that was never going to be, or we can see reasons to be grateful for the yank on the scruff on the neck, in having our eyes lifted up from the story we were writing for ourselves and turned instead to a remade world.
Memorialize in your heart the way in which these times reveal what really matters: the health and well-being of our loved ones, the resilience of our communities, and the sacrifices made by those-from doctors to garbage collectors-who give their whole selves to serving others.
Graduates, your case is new. For you, the old dogmas have never been an option. You do not have the luxury of being enthralled.
You enter a world of difficulty with open eyes, tasked with writing a story that is not necessarily of your chosing but is still entirely yours.
You are the pride of your parents and grandparents, of aunts, uncles and teachers, of the communities that shaped you in ways seen and unseen.
You were not promised this day. Many of you had to fight hard to earn it. Now it is yours.
Think anew. Act anew. Build a better future than the one you thought was certain. And, in a fearful time, call us once again to hope.
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