"There is no cramming for a test of character. It always comes as a pop quiz."
— Andy Stanley
Seeing our community’s best and brightest is an inspiring look at how we can build the future through thoughtful encouragement and guidance.
I had the chance to attend the recent Top 25 banquet for the leading Twin Cities graduating seniors, held at Centralia College. (Dad disclosure: our daughter was one of them.)
The top 50 students, 25 each from Centralia and Chehalis, told the audience of their parents and community boosters about their plans for the future. It was a brief but broad tour through the occupations that will give them a good life and keep our communities and economy strong: Navy diver, nurse practitioner, engineer, teacher, midwife, construction manager, Army intelligence officer, geneticist, EMT, dental hygienist, electric systems lineman, airline pilot, physical therapist and many more.
“A lot of people in the community support you and what you are doing,” said Cynthia Mudge, director of the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event, organized the volunteers and collected the sponsorships that made it happen.
It’s so heartening to see how the adults in their world are guiding and helping these bright young people into their time of greatest potential — through scholarships, through mentorships, and through fostering the connections that show young people how to effectively step into adulthood.
We need a lot more of that. Thoughtful coming-of-age ceremonies and celebrations are an important way to help young people find their place. It’s an opportunity for we as adults, who hopefully have figured a few things out since our own time at the beginning of life’s road, to do our best to light the way.
It’s also good to see an expansion of the types of accomplishment and progress that we recognize and encourage.
The Lewis County Public Utility District gave out several scholarships for young people entering the trades. The winners were an impressive group.
Several of them are so accomplished, in fact, that they couldn’t be at the awards ceremony.
Owen Sharp, the Centralia High School salutatorian, is also a Washington state welding champion who is headed to Georgia soon to represent our state at the national competition. He couldn’t be at the Top 25 banquet because he was in San Diego at a similar event. He plans to become an international welding inspector.
Another tradesman scholarship went to Peyton Hernandez, a wrestler and National Honor Society member who aims to become a commercial airline pilot. The odds of that look good — he missed the Top 25 banquet because he was at an interview at Alaska Airlines.
The event’s keynote speech was given by my friend and former co-worker Brian Watson. He had a bit of a surprise when he was given the opportunity, with just a few hours notice, to speak at the ceremony after the planned speaker had a family need arise at the last minute.
Watson, advertising manager for The Chronicle and a Napavine City Council member — gave a great speech. It was funny, earnest and full of practical wisdom.
He shared three pieces of advice to get people through the storm:
1. Meaningful relationships are the most important part of your life. Surround yourself with people that inspire you — trustworthy, successful people that you want to be like.
2. Keep a positive mindset. There’s negativity all around us on the news, on social media. Don’t fall into the trap of losing hope. Let’s win today. We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
3. Serve others. When you’re involved with something bigger than yourself, the curveballs that come at you are easier to get through. When your heart is focused on others, it’s easier to walk through your own storms.
I think the kids were listening, and I know those words will help them in the good and bad days ahead.
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I’m curious: what advice would you give a roomful of bright-eyed graduates if you were called at the last minute to give a speech?
Send me an email with your advice, exhortations, encouragement or wise-cracks to help our kids start off on life with a little wisdom.
I could use some of that, too.
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Brian Mittge is a community enthusiast who has written for The Chronicle since 2000 as a reporter, editor and columnist. He can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
