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Dear Class of 2022

I promise I won’t take up much of your time. I remember how much adults could ramble on when I was 18-years-old.

Savor the moment you will experienced. I promise that time from that point forward will move like a bullet train to Tokyo.

It seems like just yesterday that I walked across the stage at Paris High School in a stiflingly hot gym and got my diploma from a principal who had also been my elementary school music teacher–small towns, you have to love them. I didn’t cry. In fact, I was relieved that it was all over. I could not wait to say goodbye to the teachers and other staff members that had seen me grow up. I was ready to go to IHOP with my friends and celebrate the endless future before us. I didn’t take the time to even savor what I had accomplished.

If I can tell you all anything from my experience, it is these kernels of wisdom:

• Celebrate what you accomplished. Graduating from high school is an achievement and a milestone. It is the true transition from childhood to adulthood. You’ve just fulfilled your last obligation as a minor. From this point on you are responsible for your future.

• Even if the last four years have not been the best don’t look back on them with purely malice-tinted glasses. The things that you overcame or endured will make you a stronger person. As odd as it may sound, the bullying I encountered made me a more compassionate person with a bigger heart.

• Don’t be in a hurry to forget your friends and teachers. The prospect of meeting new people in college, trade school or a new career is exciting. Those people will become an important part of your life. Just don’t use them as replacements. Make an effort to stay in touch with the people who formed the bedrock of your adolescence. I didn’t and I regret it. Once you lose those connections it is hard to reforge them.

Like I wrote earlier, I won’t take up much of your time, but I sincerely wish you all the best of luck in your future and cannot wait to see what you become!

Best Wishes,

Warren Taylor