When I Was 17: Graduation

Photo by Baim Hanif on Unsplash

​I’m sharing this post from Washington, D.C. where I am in town to celebrate my sister’s graduation from college. There’s an incredible poetry in seeing her come to the end of an experience that so many of my students are at the very beginning of. Looking back, I can remember how incredibly excited we were when she got admitted to American University. And I remember how seriously she took the decision of where to go to college, how each choice would set her up for what she was hoping to do next. And when she said yes to American, we celebrated her accomplishment and also the potential future she was committing to.
 
After seeing her go through the last four years, I’m more mindful than ever that getting into college isn’t really the accomplishment. Graduating from college matters more than getting in to college. And building a meaningful career matters more than graduating from college. And living a fulfilling life matters even more than your career.
 
In the end, college is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. All those details that seemed so important as a senior in high school – where you got in to college, where you decided to go – become less and less important with each passing year. And what becomes more important is what you do with your time and who you spend it with. So this weekend, I’m celebrating my sister’s accomplishment. But I know another four years from now, I’ll be just as proud of all the things she’s done since. 

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