Go Out Into The World, Young Graduates
written by: Christine Piatek
I shall not sugar-coat my charge to you,
more than nineteen million of you this year.
Crossing the threshold now before you
in the best of times can send souls
slipping into despair, fear of the unknown
masking joy, accomplishment,
liberty and purpose held in your hearts.
I shall not sugar-coat my charge to you.
These times you find yourselves on the
precipice of entry are not the best of times.
You matriculate into a vastly different world
than caps and gowns of my generation faced,
one we believed was improving,
reaching justice, equity, acceptance.
It has taken all our history to achieve
what we held just two years ago.
I cannot sugar-coat my charge to you.
We had still so far to go to find
communities of parity where all could prosper,
all could dream and live their dreams.
We were moving toward that light when
a sledgehammer in the name of Union
hacked away justice, equity, acceptance,
prosperity, dreams, the chance at the stars,
a sledgehammer to all still possible
in less than one hundred days.
I cannot sugar-coat my charge to you.
The abyss you tread will take courage
beyond any I have had to muster in my lifetime.
Your time now, your task, ready or not.
The way of the world in your hands, your hearts.
May they be caring and strong for the work you must do
demanding justice for nature, for climate, for all
who do not fit neat boxes of identity, origin, color, creed,
demanding equity, inclusion, a place
for all who land on our soil, demanding
a kinder world, global connectedness,
cooperation, rejecting isolating competition.
This, your daunting charge, may take your life’s time.
The tired, the old, the lifelong warriors I stand with
depend on you, make room for new ideas, new ways,
with hope, expectation, surety that you
will make us proud, make us whole again.
- Go Out Into The World, Young Graduates - May 23, 2026
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