Congratulations MHS Class of 2025! You did it! Your parents, friends, family and, humbly, we at the Marblehead Current editorial board are so proud of your accomplishments and excited for your futures. Celebrate (safely), remember to thank the teachers, friends and family who helped get you here. Be extra grateful to your parents and all those who parented you. And when the parties and excitement have settled down, also do this: Get to work.
We don’t mean work in the Google Meet, internship, trade or summer job sense. We mean the work of adulthood, of being a contributing member of the community, of being a good citizen and dare we say, a good human being. Be our teachers now. Because, frankly, some of the adults in this community and this country need a refresher course.
We need you.
We need you to show us that you have witnessed the polarized political climate and reject its binary judgements.
We need you to show us you know how to listen with your ears, not your mouth.
We need you to meet crudeness with kindness, replace derision with respect, and unproductive screeds with civil discourse.
We need you to have the courage, yes of your convictions, but also the courage to admit when you are wrong. And perhaps most challenging, to see things from another’s point of view.
It is said by some that these are the worst of times. It is said by others that this is our country’s golden age.
What do you say? And as important, how will you say it?
You will join a college campus, or a workforce, or the military, or a gap period of exploration or any number of paths you construct, in a time of upheaval in institutions, norms and priorities.
Upheaval is uncomfortable. And it’s also an amazing opportunity to shape the future. Unlike the geography lesson you surely had once, about landmasses being forced from the ocean’s floor due to seismic forces, the outcome of this period of upheaval is not predetermined.
You can help determine it.
How? For starters, your generation will determine how tools like AI will be used for good or ill. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, sees the shift to non-human intelligence as “under-hyped” by most of us. But not by you — you get that those who liken AI’s adoption to the impact of electricity are spot on. So how will you use your intelligence to adapt, master and enlighten humanity with its power?
How will you ensure you are not moving out of your parents’ houses just to move into siloed “houses” of people and information which confirm rather than broadens your perspective? The ease with which we can validate our own opinions is deeply troubling. Don’t allow the comfort of being accepted, not criticized, to replace critical thinking.
We admit our own bias here, of course, but seek out credible information as you form your point of view. Be a smart consumer of media! Be discerning. Question. Separate fact from opinion. Put into practice that age old admonishment when being told what is absolute “truth”: Consider the source. Facts, as founding father John Adams said, are stubborn things. Or, to modernize his point, may we suggest you keep in mind that podcasts are but a point of view.
Oh Class of 2025, congratulations. This is your moment. Make the most of it by making us better. You are the teachers now. We’re counting on you. Ready, set, go!
