Caps, gowns, and calibrating

Caps and gowns.
It starts this weekend with Central Lee’s graduation in Donnellson. Holy Trinity’s graduation is the following Sunday, and Fort Madison’s is Saturday, May 30.
I thought maybe this year it might be best - instead of writing a bunch of handwritten notes to grads who think having a reporter at your graduation party is a good idea – to just write a note to all 2026 graduates.
And I have a feeling it might be parents who say, “Hey, you should read this” or “OMG, don’t read this.”
I graduated twice, once in high school in 1986 – go ahead and do the math, at 46, I just don’t care anymore how old people think I am.
I graduated as a Falcon with about 26 kids from West Burlington High School, so I think it’s like our 25th reunion or something and they’re trying to pull together an event this summer.  I also graduated from Western Illinois University in 1993.
I only walked the stage in high school, and that was mandated. I was kind of ambivalent to the whole thing. I don’t think my picture is even in the yearbook. I wasn’t much on formalities, but I was too stupid to realize that it probably had value to others.
At Western I got my degree - yes Cs get degrees -, and I had a child on the way. I wanted to work and I did. A bunch. Sixty-hour work weeks weren’t uncommon in the quick service restaurant world and it was putting money in the bank. I thought that was my job to work and provide.
But as brand spanking new graduates, if you take anything with you into the world of careers, raising a family, hitchhiking - whatever, take this with you.
No one ever went to their death bed wishing they had spent more time on the job.
A solid career, and that certainly includes being the head of a household, is rewarding and prideful. But don’t ever forget to stop and take stock of your life, where you’re at, and where you want to be. Set goals for yourself for a year, five years, 10 years, 20 years. But, in between the goals, make time for the sister or brother, uncle, or friend. Stop and breathe often. Look back at the hills you’ve climbed and the impressions you’ve left along the way.
And calibrate. That may be the most important advice you’ll get in the next two to three months. Calibrate.
Look back at your footsteps and evaluate the missteps with as much value as you take pride in the accomplishments. The mechanism of calibration is the process to more achievement – and less regret.
You’re coming to the end of one early stage of life, and if you stop and look back, I don’t think it would take a lot of convincing to realize that it happened in a flash.
Most of us hate the speech that’s due, or the term paper, or having to go in to work for four or five hours when you’d rather be at the friend’s house or a game. Those are the things that make life seem a little longer than it really is. But let it be a little longer. Don’t rush this.
Life is so fast, we think we’re 46 when we’re actually 51 haha!. Birthdays are harder and harder to keep track of as you get older. It’s the same for you, kids, you don’t just realize that you were eight just ten minutes ago.
There are some of you graduating now that I remember as little kids holding your mom's or dad’s hands. It goes fast, man.
So take time to stop, calibrate, and just let the world slow down. Don’t burn yourself out blazing through your time at college, or working yourself to the bone out of the gate trying to get ahead. There’s nothing wrong with a little overtime and some extra money, but don’t get tunnel vision. When the clock seems to moving slow, enjoy that for a while. Anticipation can almost be a vice as it draws us in and makes us want time to move faster. Fight that instinct to want to get there and enjoy the ride.
You have more freedom now and the first instinct is to lean into that freedom and get a little crazy. Go ahead and take a peek around that curve. Even meander down it a little bit. But remember that you should have the rest of your life in front of you. Don’t take a turn and go down a road you can’t find your way back from.
Many of the adults around you took those turns and got lost. It took basically an intervention with my family, led by mom, to get me back to college and back on track. I certainly explored all the options after high school. College was something to easily talk yourself out of day-to-day. At least it was for me. That’s the freedom. You’re on your own to make things happen, you’re also on your own to fall on your face.
I just wasn’t ready for it. Many of us aren’t and struggle with the transition. Some people say there should be a couple years in the workforce, or traveling Europe on the parents, before you head to college. There’s validity to that. Many young adults struggle early on in college, bail and head out looking for work. When they see that’s not so easy either, they reset with school and it usually works a little better the second time. But some blast right through. The only guidance we can give is take note of what’s happening…and calibrate accordingly.
Speaking of resetting, going from the ER to setting a personal best 6’7” in the high jump is certainly a calibration to recognize. Fort Madison senior Nolan Guzman did just that Thursday in Mt. Pleasant. He likely was on his way to clearing 6’9” but after qualifying for state, he surrendered the other two attempts to get ready for the Hounds' 4x800 relay – and qualified in that event as well, but that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.