My youngest brother graduated from high school last night. Family members are invited to the hotel for cocktails and mingling, which was when this photo was taken.
Being in a relatively crowded room with 100+ teenagers is not usually something I would embrace with open arms, but last night was different. There seems to have been a shift in mentality, in the perception of self on behalf of young people. I remember my high school graduation, eight years ago (insert shudder here), and how all my friends and I nervously tugged at our dresses, twirled our hair on fingers, slouched our shoulders, and plastered band-aids to feet entirely unaccustomed to high-heeled shoes. But the kids graduating last night carried themselves with a such a supreme level of confidence, something I don't think I've even achieved in my mid-twenties.
We hear so much about the challenges with 'kids today,' teenagers that have grown up with the internet and all its negative implications, kids with absentee parents and attitudes that make their teacher's heads spin. But to have seen these kids, these young women and men, as they leave their high school years behind them, full of hope and belief in themselves, I thought to myself, 'for today, for tonight, there are no problems with kids today. These kids are alright.'
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