To the class of 2024, 
It’s taken me a while to write this. And I’m surprised to find tears fill my eyes each time I try, because we’ve made it. We’re graduating. Shouldn’t I be celebrating?
We finished our classes and we’re submitting our final exams. We’re being told “congratulations” and spending our final moments with good friends. This chapter of our lives is one with few pages left. It’s something we’ve been working toward since we arrived on campus.
For so long, we’ve done life alongside our peers. Now our lives are about to go in many different directions. Some of us will move hours away. Some will remain close. Our social media feeds will fill with weddings, children and major life events; like when some of us receive hard-earned white coats. We’re embarking on a time filled with lots of change. Hopefully, our moms’ friends still hype us up when they post about us on their Facebook pages.  
I think it’s OK to have a whirlwind of emotions about graduation. I’m sure every graduating class has felt this way. Our time here was a time of major growth, you can see it when you remember how you felt before your first day of college. We’re stepping into something we’ve worked three, four, five or more years for. And our futures may seem a bit scarier than ever before.
We’re leaving behind exhilarating years; years filled with lots of laughter, smiles, stress and tears. We found our way through the ebbs and flows, the highs and the lows. We’re becoming the “grown-ups” our childhood selves dreamed of being. And if I’m honest, I’m a little scared because I used to think that adults were all-knowing.
We persevered through the many roadblocks that tried to obstruct our ride. We were constantly learning, often without us knowing. Our professors and the coursework taught us what we needed to obtain our degrees, but we learned more from other human beings.
Friendships, relationships, and everything in between are what taught us the most about living. They showed life from different perspectives and helped us learn how to act in situations and handle confrontations. They helped us feel heard, loved and seen. And showed us what makes us not feel any of those things.
We discovered some of our passions and made lots of memories. And in a few years, we will even miss the stress surrounding submitting assignments by the 11:59 p.m. deadline.
Whether I know you or not, I’m proud of you – I mean it. I’m proud of you regardless of how many awards and graduation cords you received because what matters is that you are graduating. You did it. You committed to something and showed you were capable of doing it. Be proud of yourself because this is something you succeeded in.
Class of 2024, we’ve reached the end. Congratulations. We’re about to figure out what comes next. Let’s enjoy it.

Over and out,

Lauren Madden 
P.S. Mom, I promise I’ll take graduation photos soon.
P.P.S. Our loved ones will probably insist on taking a million pictures after our commencement ceremonies. Take the photos, you’ll want them eventually.