Last year, I wrote this column about bravely entering an uncertain world. This time around, all the graduates are setting out into a country trying to return to normal. 

You have been afforded some luxuries. Last year’s class was not. You will get to walk across the stage in front of your friends and family. Spring athletes had a season this year. You finished your senior years in school instead of from home.

This is a time for graduates to celebrate, and you should because the last year has been hard. You will have more freedom and power than you had in your first 18 years and you should use it to wring some enjoyment out of a post-pandemic world, but do not let yourself forget the past year.

Last year’s class ended high school in a world of questionable supply chains, the uncertain future of our health care system and the looming threat of a virus we knew very little about at the time.

You should be happy to graduate in better circumstances now than your peers one year ago, because it’s a good thing, but don’t forget the problems highlighted since last March are still here.

The timing of the pandemic at home seeming to wrap up as we head into summer could not be more convenient for pretending the entire thing was a dream. During the past year, I have spoken to people who have described, in intimate detail, the devastation and illness suffered by their family members right here in Rowan County.

The pandemic has adversely impacted some of the most vulnerable people in society: the elderly, sick and poor. Often those categories overlap. These people suffered before the pandemic, too. We saw widespread social unrest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. His death was not the only one that sparked outrage last year and every week seems to bring a new controversy.

Forgetting pain is a short-term solution, but we can do better and find joy in correcting the suffering in our society. As you are preparing to start your life’s journey proper, how will you appreciate the gift of normalcy if the previous year did not rob it from you permanently? How will you be a good person the day after graduation?