young

This week I was privileged to be part of my daughter in law’s graduation from Te Herenga Waka, Victoria, University of Wellington.

As is its wont, Wellington turned on a perfect day, warm, sunny joyous skies that mirrored the joy that surrounded us. We took photos, watched her and her classmates parade through the streets of Wellington to the graduation ceremony, and delighted with them all. It is an achievement to graduate with any diploma, degree, master’s or PhD. Years of commitment and hard work. I truly took joy in celebrating our brightest and our best. I know all too well that it isn’t enough to just be “smart”. Tertiary study requires a thirst to learn, some self-mastery and just hard work. You spend years with little to no income but still have to pay for your living costs. Your friends may be out there earning, spending, it is easy to wonder if you have taken the right choice. Of course, the argument always is that you are investing in your future, and your rewards will come with that piece of paper they all held so proudly.

There were speeches, of course. These are achievements to be honoured, recognised and celebrated. There was recognition of the sacrifices these young (and a few not quite as young) people had made, to get to this point in their lives.

There was also acknowledgment that these young people are not graduating into the same world, that my peers, and those that came before me did. The world is more fractured than ever. A degree nowadays is not an instant career entry. We live in a world whos values seem to be changing. Unlike my era, we have saddled most of these bright young people with student debts – starting their work life already financially on the back foot. Should education be free? I have the woke concept that it should. These will be the future shapers of our society. They will be the lawyers, doctors, educators, financial whizzes, diplomats, artists and thinkers. Our societies depend on what they will do, for our continued existence.

I looked around the auditorium. All those bright young people who should be full of hope, but somehow, we have dulled that hope. They should be excited for what they can contribute, not already worried if they have wasted this chunk of their lives and set themselves behind their peers.

These are the critical thinkers, that our continued growth and evolution as good communities will rely on. These are the people who will go on to create opportunities for others, cure cancer; find alternative fuels for us; keep our lawmakers honest. These are the people who will create the systems to keep me, and my generation safe and healthy in our old age.

It was a very inclusive ceremony. All abilities, all cultures, all identities catered to. I’m sure the anti-Woke brigade would find fault. Seek to show their own bigotry and racism by finding “issues” with how the ceremony unfolded. But they are the dinosaurs. They are the ones that hold our communities and society back. It is time, they realised they are of the past, and these young people, and all young people are our future….

I was brought up in the era when children should be “seen and not heard”, as if you suddenly arrive at adulthood, fully equipped with sense and responsibility. But how do you forge your identity, your ethics, your view of the world, if you cannot express it and learn as you go along? Seen and not heard, only breeds resentment and a repetition of what has come before – and let’s face it, much of that has been a crushing disaster. I am keenly aware that that is the point. If only the adults in the room have a voice, then all the things that they believe in, all the “old ways” are safe to continue. Change scares some people, I understand that, but the world we live in is not static, it is evolving at breakneck speed, and we are either evolving with it, or we are left behind.

It is no secret; I am a champion of our young people. I think they are well informed, they are learning inclusion and tolerance from their peers, and by being so connected to the world around. I think it is so important for us to give them a voice, and to listen to it. It will be their world once they are gone, let us help them shape it accordingly…

We should be championing our young people. Supporting them, guiding them; letting them make mistakes and letting them learn from them. We should be building opportunities for them to thrive, for all their innovative ideas to be given a chance to flourish. Instead we seem to be hell bent on stifling them, shutting them down, and then kicking them when they are down. We should be growing our young people into healthy, well rounded adults. That will be how all our futures will be better..

I sat with pride, and the odd tear yesterday. I was moved by the Karenga, the welcome call as our new graduates entered. Welcomed to this special place in this special time. I loved the bilingual speeches, with our 2^nd official language – sign language – utilised as well. I loved the respect shown to all the cultures represented. Yes, we are Aotearoa New Zealand, but many of these young people choose to come here, far away from whanau and friends, to learn. And of course we should understand that. In reality, learning, is now global. We contribute to global knowledge, and we benefit from global knowledge. Isolationists, don’t understand just how interwoven the world is.

So to all those young (and not quite as young) people who graduated yesterday and for the rest of the week, thank you. Thank you for putting your life on hold, for doing something that will benefit all of us. I wish you all well, I know your contribution over the rest of your life, will be extraordinary.

“Whaowhia te kete mātauranga“

Fill the basket of knowledge