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A Heartfelt Message to the Class of 2020

5/22/2020

It’s customary around this time of year to wish graduates Good Luck.

Good Luck as you go forth. Good Luck in college. Good Luck in your future endeavors. You know the drill.

Anyone who knows me well knows that it’s not my style to wish people Good Luck. Lest you get the wrong idea, it’s not that I don’t want people to succeed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s just that I feel that luck isn’t something you can get by wishing and hoping or which serendipitously occurs, out of the blue, when you least expect it…although wouldn’t that be nice?

No, my friends, I’ve always believed that you make your luck, so luck, by my definition anyway, isn’t luck at all. It’s mindful preparation. It’s creating a plan. It’s executing that plan.

So instead of the standard, often perfunctory, well-wish, my charge to folks, depending on the context, is Play Well, Run Well, Perform Well, or, simply, Compete Well.

Those genuinely-intended, gently-delivered imperatives presume that you’ve done your homework meticulously, rehearsed thoroughly, and prepared body and mind for every contingency you can imagine (and have the pluck and flexibility to adjust if roadblocks appear in your path or curve balls send you back on your heels).

They presume that, literally and figuratively, you’ve crossed every t and dotted every i, you trust your training, and you undertake each endeavor with the goal of maximizing your God-given gifts and presenting the very best version of yourself that you possibly can.

And they presume that if things don’t go your way, you’ll deal with the setbacks without excuse or complaint and with the understanding that success is measured as much by effort as outcome and that disappointments present teachable moments that enable you to grow and improve.

You, the members of the Class of 2020, all 138 strong, Cougar Strong, have competed well. Actually, very well. Hall-of-fame well.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken away a huge part of your lives, and that’s truly disappointing, but you’ve persevered, made the best of an unpredictable and unimaginable situation, and handled the inconveniences – some big, others small – philosophically and maturely.

You’ve made your Collegiate Family proud, you’ve made your personal families proud, and you’ve made those who have supported your efforts and cheered for you proud, not so much for any tangible achievement, although there have been many in every area of school life, but for how you’ve responded to these bad breaks, cheap shots, bum calls, and twists of fate well beyond your control and which you certainly don’t deserve. They’ve tested your mettle, you haven’t backed down, and you’ve remained true to yourselves.

One day, this moment in our shared history will be a memory. Some specifics will fade with the passage of time, but you’ll never totally forget. Historians will document it, analyze it, and write books about it, and, if you can even imagine, your children and grandchildren will ask you about it.

When they do, my hope is that you’ll be able to tell them, Yes, I finished my senior year on Zoom. Yes, I missed the spring, beautiful weather and all, and prom and baccalaureate and commencement, all the events I’d waited a lifetime for. Yes, I really, really missed my friends.

But I hope you’ll also be able to tell them, Sure, it was tough, but I grew in ways I never could have imagined, and I’m better for having had the experience. Sure, it was scary at times and frustrating and mind-numbing and Groundhog Day-ish, and I’d rather that it never happened, but I made the best of it. I refused to let it beat me. I drew strength from my faith, my family, and my friends. I stood tall and steady. Together, we stood tall and steady…and we overcame.

And sure, it seemed a curse at times, but the lessons I learned and the wisdom, empathy, and enlightenment I gained were truly blessings. The crisis eventually passed. We found our new normal. Hey, did I say it was tough? Absolutely, it was tough. But I knew tomorrow would come and the sun would shine again and it did.

Collegiate at its best, my friends, is about dedication, resilience, resolve, and the pursuit of excellence.

It’s about humility in moments of success and victory and grace in the face of disappointment and defeat.

And it’s about family: about sharing joy when times are good, providing encouragement and comfort when times are challenging, and making each other better.

You, the members class of 2020, represent the very best of the Collegiate Experience. You live the Collegiate Spirit. You leave a wonderful legacy.

Peace…and Godspeed to each of you.

~ Weldon Bradshaw

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