No, I’m not valedictorian or salutatorian and I don’t get to give a speech at my high school graduation, but I’m still reflecting and considering and getting scared.
When I was a little girl, Pocahontas was my favorite movie. As I approach my high school graduation, there is a part of me that isn’t ready to leave high school — a piece of my heart that wants everything to stay exactly the same. Last night, I was reminded of the old adage that everything always changes. Just as a river changes the lives and the plants it touches, so the river itself changes from moment to moment, and so do our lives.
The real Pocahontas was a young teenager when the English settled at Jamestown and her life and the life of our continent changed forever. The Disney movie places her closer to my age and her questions are similar to my own.
What I love most about rivers is:
You can’t step in the same river twice
The water’s always changing, always flowing
But people, I guess, can’t live like that
We all must pay a price
To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing
What’s around the riverbend
Waiting just around the riverbend
…I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Somewhere past the sea
Don’t know what for…
Why do all my dreams extend
Just around the riverbend?
Just around the riverbend…
Unlike Pocahontas, I know where I am going. I have no marriage proposals to consider, but I do have a scholarship to Princeton. My dreams await past the shore and into the sea. The river of high school has changed me, as have all the streams and rocks and reeds in my life.
In the past 18 years, my river has included rough and smooth waters and has taken some unexpected turns. I have a sense of what lies just beyond the river bend, and I’m gathering the courage to explore the rest of the twists and turns.
Political Teen Tidbits 
June 1, 2010 at 12:29 am
They say wisdom comes from experience, but that is not exactly right.
It comes from perspective, from distance, from the chance to look back and see yourself and your friends from a different place and time. This can lead to greater love and compassion, both for yourself and those around you too. It gives you better understanding since you will be in a place of freedom from the immediate past. When you are on your own, finding your own life, you will finally have power to be yourself and have the wisdom to see your old life with clear eyes.
You will lose nothing by leave the town and life you have always known. You will gain so much more than you can imagine right now.
It will be amazing, and your friends will always be there for you. Like me.
June 1, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Congratulations on your graduation and your scholarship to Princeton. A great adventure awaits you at college and beyond. Don’t be afraid to embrace it. You’re a smart, decent and empathetic person, and I have no doubt that you’ll be successful in any endeavor you choose to try.
I just have one warning. College is not high school, and even smart people must work hard for good grades. Keep the work ethic you have already shown us, and there will be plenty of time for friends and parties and you will be a great success.