Hurray for average

High school graduations get underway in earnest tonight. From the small alternative high schools where challenged teens have been molded into respectable students, to the large blueribbon campuses where dozens will graduate with honors, the class of 2006 is moving on.

Once young and inexperienced, these 17and 18-year-olds are strong and independent now, ready to take the next big step.

Some have won top awards and boast long, impressive rsums; others are lucky to graduate at all. Education, after all, is simply an opportunity, a chance for students to wear different hats and find out what fits. The smartest students will probably do well in life, to be sure, but don't count out the average Joes. Many have worked hard just to make the grade.

In school, the so-called average students weren't the top leaders; they may not have been leaders at all. Their marks were okay at best and they certainly didn't receive the accolades and recognition that the gifted students did.

But average doesn't connote weakness or suggest that a student will be a failure. If a young person can obtain a degree or receive training in one of the trades, shouldn't his or her parent be proud? Not everyone can be the class valedictorian; not everyone will be a bright and shining star.

Still, there's goodness in all of them, not just the ones who excel on paper.

The schools have done an excellent job laying the groundwork for our seniors, but education remains a lifelong process. Those who succeed must continue to learn and adapt. Some are at the head of the class now, but there are others waiting to blossom. All we can hope is that when our seniors get out on their own they will make decisions based on kindness, not treachery, and on altruism, not greed.

There's only one thing we know for sure: There's no path that's right for everybody and there's no single formula that can guarantee a young person's success.

Beginnings are fresh and unspoiled, full of hope and promise. The teens who struggled or failed to impress us in high school have a chance to wipe the slate clean. Those are the ones who've flown under the radar; those are the ones we are rooting for.