But remains true is that your graduation marks your passage into adulthood. The time when you begin to take charge of your own life. It's when you get to decide what's important to you ,the kind career you wanna pursue, who you wanna build a family with, the values you wanna live by .

And given the current state of the world, that may be kind of scary. If you'd planned on going away for college, getting dropped off at campus in the fall, that's no longer a given. If you're planning to work while going to school, finding that first job is going to be tougher. Even families that are relatively well off are dealing with massive uncertainty. Those who were struggling before ,they are hanging on by a thread. All of which means that you're gonna have to grow up faster than some generations. This pandemic has shaking up the status quo, and laid bare a lot of our country's deep seated problems from massive economic inequality to ongoing racial disparities, to a lack of basic health care for people who need it . It's woken a lot of young people up to fact that old ways of doing things just don't work. That's doesn't matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick, and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves but about each other. It's also pulled the curtain back on another hard truth, something that we all have to eventually accept once our childhood comes to an end.

You know all those adults that used to think were in charge and know what they were doing, turns out they don't have the answers. A lot of them aren't even asking the right questions .

So if the world is gonna get better, it's gonna be up to you .

That realization may be kind of intimidating, but I hope it's also inspiring . With all the challenges this country faces right now, nobody can tell you ,no, you're too young to understand or this is how it's always been done. Because with so much uncertainty, with everything suddenly up foe grabs, this is your generation's world to shape.

Since I'm one of the old guys, I won't tell you what to do with this power that rests in your hands, but I'll leave you with three quick pieces of advice.

First, don't be afraid. America has gone through tough times before, slavery ,civil war, famine, disease, the Great Depression ,and 911. And each time, we came out stronger, usually because a new generation, young people like you, learn from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.

Second, do what you think is right. Doing what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy, that's how little kids think. Unfortunately a lot of so called grown ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs still think that way, which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead you decide to ground yourself in values that last. Like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others. You won't get it right every time. You'll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that's inside yourself, even when it's hard, even when it's inconvenient, people will notice, they'll gravitate towards you. And you'll be part of the solution instead part of the problem.

And finally, build the community. No one does big things by themselves . Right now ,when people are scared, it's easy to be cynical and say, let me just look out for myself, or my family or people who look or think or pray like me. But if we are gonna get through these difficult times, if we are gonna create a world where everybody has opportunity to find a job and afford college, if we are gonna save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we are gonna have to do it together.

So be alive to one another's struggles. Stand up for one another's rights. Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us, sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed, and set the world on a different path.

But the truth is ,you don't need us to tell you what to do