Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Last week our community’s Estevan Comprehensive School unleashed another graduating class into the world. It was time for the Grade 12 team to grab hold of a new world and explore fresh concepts after spending the last 13 years learning how to recognize new concepts when they were presented to them. 

For some graduates, the scholastic-styled learning curve will continue for a few more years as they enter into post-secondary studies at a polytechnic, college or university. 

Others are graduating into the workforce where some will need to seek certification and validation in their chosen professions. 

And, there will be the few strugglers and stragglers who will require more time to figure things out and search for who and what they want to be before they strike out on the new paths of adventure. 

It was a team of about 180 separate personalities let loose last week, ready to find their place, and we, who have already been engaged in the working world for a few years, will welcome them with open arms. We need them, just as we need multi-skilled immigrants to keep turning our wheels of industry and productivity. 

Some of these graduates will deploy brain power with a minimum physical effort to get their jobs done while others will assume the grunt work duties, most often by choice, since they will be the ones who accomplish by doing things, repairing things and devising things … building the better mousetrap, if you will, because inventive minds are found in every walk and layer of life and every layer of every profession. It’s up to the bright bosses and administration gurus to identify these talents and deploy them for the good of others, whether that be shareholders, family businesses, volunteer agencies, or educational institutions. Find the niche, find the talent then deploy and reward it. That’s what good managers and leaders do. 

The class of 2016 will be well-rehearsed veterans of the world by 2026 when they plan their 10-year school reunion, ready to boast about a burgeoning family, business, new spouse or next year’s travel plans. By 2036 they will be able to refer to themselves as veterans of their practices and trades and as well-rehearsed mothers and fathers. By this time they will be well aware of the fact that in life, there is no reset button, no refresh icon to click on to start anew. It’s just them and their choices. 

There is no app for life because although we refer to our life cycle as a game, this is a misnomer. Life is not a game. Yes, there are winners and losers, but in games you get to quit and start over. In life, when you quit, or when it decides to quit on you, there is no magical refresh or re-launch setting on a keyboard or mouse. You get going again, or you don’t. 

This class of 2016 may seek guidance, but eventually, the ultimate choice is theirs and only theirs to make. They have to write their own script. No one or no computer will do that for them. 

So let the eagles and egos fly, we say to the class of 2016.

ECS has prepared you well, it’s time for you to go out and prove your worth and add a little value to our global village. It’s right there in front of you, once you lift your heads from the phone apps and take a good look at your world of opportunities that are just begging for your talents.