Frank Watson: Letter to the Class of 2018

Congratulations.

You have successfully completed your public education and are about to enter the real world.

It isn’t that school is not the real world, but it is a special world where you are not fully responsible for your actions and most mistakes have no real long-term consequences.

You are considered children still learning the difference between right and wrong.

That changes when you walk across the stage and receive your diploma.

From the beginning of time, all cultures have had a rite of passage children go through to be accepted as adults.

For us, it is high school graduation.

From now on, for better or worse, you will be considered adults.

Many of you will attend college before you begin to enter our national work force.

College is not high school.

Your tuition will not be funded by the taxpayers.

Many of you will be supported by your family while you pursue a bachelor’s degree.

You will owe them a debt - at least a debt of gratitude.

Your school will respect your privacy, and will not send your grades to your benefactors, nor will they call your parents if you have academic difficulties.

Include a copy of your grades in the Christmas Card you send to those who help fund your education.

Their sacrifice is more valuable than you realize.

Many of your peers will stagger under the heavy weight of debt for many years after graduation.

Don’t forget those who help you ease that burden.

Most of you will need to finance at least part of your own degree.

You will have to participate in the student loan program and may need to work part-time.

It is worth it.

Think long-term.

College graduates make much more over their professional careers than those without degrees.

Have a plan.

Choose a field of study that will lead to meaningful employment.

A degree in Ancient Greek Philosophy may be interesting, but it will not be meaningful to most employers.

Every generation enters adult society at a unique point in history.

Your parents graduated as President Clinton was facing impeachment due to his involvement with Monica Lewinsky, and a war in the Congo claimed 5.4 million lives.

Your grandparents received their diplomas as Viet Nam invaded Cambodia and watched the news on black and white TV that reported the mass suicide of the followers of James Jones.

Every generation had its challenges, and you will have yours.

Our country, your country now, is divided as never before.

We have a president who has never been in politics and seems to go out of his way to make enemies.

He is supposed to be a dealmaker but doesn’t appear to be making much progress.

You will be eligible to vote in the coming midterm elections.

Get involved.

Find out what the real issues are and make intelligent choices.

Try to find issues to vote for rather than issues to vote against.

It will soon be your government.

Make it better rather than just different.

The American economy remains the largest in the world, but it has its challenges too.

Our national debt is the greatest threat our country has ever faced.

If you don’t find a way to fix it, the consequences will be catastrophic.

The debt problem cannot be solved by politics as usual.

Our trade with the rest of the world, especially China, is out of balance.

If we continue to buy more than we sell, we will run out of money.

Our national infrastructure is aging.

Our bridges need repair.

The electric power grid is teetering on collapse.

We are not handing over a problem-free utopia.

We have failed to solve the world’s problems.

Now it is up to you.

Make the world a better place for your children.

(Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and a long time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free lance columnist for over 18 years.)