SUNDRE — Regardless of what post-secondary path students from the graduating Class of 2022 embark upon, Sundre High School and Sundre Learning Centre principal Scott Saunders encouraged them keep in mind the skill sets they learned and developed during their time in school.
Whether entering right into the world of work or perhaps travelling abroad to further their cultural education, Saunders said, “we as educators along with your families hope that we have filled you with the knowledge and experiences to be able to move forward with your life beyond high school.”
Recounting an article by educational researcher Michele Borba that he had recently read titled “Preparing Students for an Uncertain Future,” Saunders said the author discussed the different kinds of skill sets that are “vital to your success in an ever-changing world: self-confidence, empathy, self-control and integrity.”
Those qualities are important and tend to develop naturally with maturity, he said, adding there are also several other attributes mentioned in the article that align with what he as a principal often speaks to graduating classes about.
Those are curiosity, perseverance, and optimism.
Always craving to know new things, curiosity provides a person with the ability to evolve if – or as demonstrated by the last few years, when – adversity strikes, he said.
Perseverance is staying the course despite difficulty or delay in reaching milestones, he said.
“This skill becomes important when you are trying to achieve your goals but inevitably run into roadblocks,” he said. “Fresh out of high school with the world in front of you, lofty goals may seem out of reach, but perseverance is what keeps you pushing through when times are tough.”
And last but not least, the principal also underscored the importance of optimism.
“This is having hopefulness and confidence about the future,” he said. “Never has this been more important in all our lives than right now as we lock eyes with a very uncertain future.”
From navigating the uncharted waters of the globe’s emergence from pandemic restrictions to a shaky economy as well as a torrent of seemingly non-stop and inescapable negative news headlines, optimism will be crucial in maintaining a positive frame of mind along the path to success, he said.
The principal concluded by encouraging the graduating class of 2022 to always draw from the skills they’ve learned and developed and to continue along their path of striving to improve not only themselves, but also those around them.
“You have proven to us that you can handle adult challenges, now go out in the world and find your place,” the principal said.
Samantha Turner, Class of 2022 valedictorian, expressed gratitude and appreciation for everything she over the years has learned from her teachers as well as peers.
Without a helping hand, many of the graduates would not be walking the stage to get their diplomas, she said.
“And to those who got here even without the best help or best situations, I am proud of each and every one of you," said Turner.
Speaking from her own personal experience, Turner said one of her biggest helpers was a marker outside of the school district.
“When I did Grade 11 English online, I never imagined I'd meet someone who would change my outlook on everything,” she said. “He helped me through anything I struggled with, talked me through formats and my mistakes and never made me feel like an idiot like some others had in the past.”
Rather than simply giving her a to-do list of instructions, she said he helped her grow from what she was providing.
“When I presented him with ideas and perspectives he had never seen before, instead of pushing me to the more conformist normal, he took the ideas I had for what they were and valued them like he would any other piece of work," she said.
The point is, she elaborated, that experience taught her unique ways of approaching problems.
“The weird ways to get to one’s goals are just as valid as any other thought process,” she said. “This showed me and could show you that there is no definite path to follow, there is no right or wrong way to think for the most part.”
That lesson was a breath of fresh air from what she had up to that point in life been presented, she said, referring to “the same old rhetoric, the pressure to have figured out everything we want in life.”
Of course many of her classmates already have goals in mind, and she wished them success. But she also encouraged those who remain on the road of self-discovery, whether they seek to explore paths less travelled or simply take life one day at a time as it comes.
“Either way, we all know nothing in our life is certain, and we have so much ahead of us where we can learn and make choices – maybe change them – and then keep going,” she said, urging her classmates to decide their own destinies and not to let anyone else tell them what they should do with their lives.
“Even if you’ve been doing something for years, you can change and find something more true to what you want and pursue that instead, or you could even do it alongside what you already do. Your plan and your life doesn’t have to be concrete, set in stone, because nothing really is.”
Some people might say an adolescent without a specific plan for the future is wasting their youth, she said.
“And to that I say waste your youth then. Live how you see fit for yourself and don’t let others pressure you into something you don’t want to be, don’t let them push you to somewhere you don't want to go.”
Everyone must decide life’s meaning for themselves, and she encouraged her fellow graduates to make the most of it regardless of what they choose to be or do.
“You never know when this all will end so don’t spend your life trapped,” she said. “Live in the moment and love it, and love everything you do because the thing you should prioritize in this life is you.”
