Graduation: The end, or the beginning?

I watched Tyler graduate from Station Camp High School last night.

It is the first high school graduation I have attended in some time. My hat is off to all educators; administrators, teachers, and staff who work hard to insure our children have the opportunity to learn.

Many things have changed since I graduated from high school 27 years ago, but one thing that remains the same is the recognition of those who have achieved the highest grades in school. In this school's ceremony the valedictorian and the salutatorian both gave speeches. As we drove home, I asked my wife Kim if she remembered who the valedictorian was when she graduated, as I could not remember either of the people who received this honor when I graduated in 1980. Kim could not remember the names of the recipients at her high school graduation either.

I wondered--which is more important, being at the top of your class or what you do with your education? Speaking as a person who is engaged in getting his third degree after the high school diploma, I can vouchsafe that it is not the degree or the grades that makes a person. We all know people who are terribly bright, very well educated, and painfully un- or under-employed. Not to mention all those who have important degrees from hallowed institutes of higher education but never do anything productive with what they learn. How sad.

"Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body" (Ecclesiastes 12:12 NIV). One might continue on getting further education seemingly forever, but until we use what we have learned, it is of no consequence.

Or as my favorite philosopher Yoda might say,"Remember what you have learned! Save you it can!"

Ultimately it matters more what you do with your education than whether or not you made it to the top of your class.