I went to my sister's graduation today (yay class of 2018!) and was quite impressed with all of the speeches. They weren't those BS ones that fill the graduates up with unicorn dust and candy corn by telling them they are amazing and they will succeed at everything because their class is just an awesome group of people *eye roll.*

Instead, they were down to earth and called attention to the possibility of both successes and failures. So I left the arena feeling pretty uplifted and grateful for their honesty. At least until I thought about whether the class of 2018 was actually prepared to handle the failure and hard times heading their way.

Afterward, I asked my sister whether she thought high school prepared her for the inevitable failures that the speakers talked about. Laughing, she replied with a hearty, "No." My sister obviously cannot speak for all students but still, a pretty compelling case nonetheless.

In my opinion, if schools really want students to be prepared for and not fear failure, they should celebrate it as much as they celebrate those who embody "success."

Instead of just bringing up the valedictorian, why not also bring up the graduate who struggled to raise their GPA after mental illness brought them down? Instead of just bringing up the class social butterfly to make a speech, why not also bring up the student who failed miserably in the social realm but learned a few things from it along the way? Instead of just bringing up the "good" students, why not also bring up the students who started trouble and made mistakes but turned things around?

I don't know about you guys but I say enough of this hypocrisy! I look forward to the day when not only schools but America as a whole can recognize that success, like ice cream, can come in many different flavors and all deserve to have their sweetness recognized.