“Commencement” means the beginning of something. So how come it’s used to describe a graduation ceremony, when students are ending their time in school?

Actually, the commencement does mark a beginning: the beginning of these students’ adult lives.

Sure, Class of 2010, you have endured 12 years of school, but this is where your lives are just beginning. This is where the rest of the world considers you as adults.

As adults, you will now have to decide what you want to do to take care of yourselves. Do you comtinue your education at a college or do you search for a job? Do you work for a while to pay for college?

Whatever you decide to do, you have many, many new experiences ahead of you — things that you have never done before and that may be totally foreign to you.

There are two things I want you to do when faced with something new. (1) Don’t worry, and (2) Try.

That’s it. Do your best. Listen to others when they tell you or show you how it’s done. Ask questions if they don’t explain things well enough.

Just don’t give up on yourself, especially before you even try.

You all have many, many talents and skills that have yet to be discovered. You have interests that you don’t even know you have yet. But, the only way to discover those talents and skills is to try different things.

There are so many fantastic things that you will face. Some new things are not so fantastic but just as new, like paying bills and taking care of your house or apartment.

I envy you as you begin your journey as a high school graduate. You will go through several life experiences over the next five to 10 years, making some mistakes along the way but also achieving and improving on yourself.

Don’t worry about the mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn and get better.

Just tell yourself that you can do whatever life brings to you. Don’t begin a new experience by saying, “I can’t.”

Take life by the horns and try your best. You can — and will — succeed.

David B. Snow is the managing editor of The Demopolis Times.