The future is bright for the Class of 2021

Congratulations to the approximately 1,000 high school seniors who graduated last week in the Flathead Valley. Your families are proud of you. Your community is proud of you. We are proud of you. And we’re amazed by you.

You have survived a senior year fraught with pandemonium caused by a global pandemic. You’ve survived a lockdown and the calamity of remote learning, isolation, and the longing to hug and be hugged by your family and friends.

During a year when many of you cast your first vote in a presidential election you were eyewitness to national political turmoil, a siege on the U.S. Capitol, and the impeachment and acquittal of a U.S. president. Other national headlines you woke up to in your senior year reported on record-breaking wildfires and disastrous droughts across the West, and an historic deep-freeze across the South.

But as the veil of the novel coronavirus slowly lifted in 2021, you also witnessed the success of a Herculean vaccination effort, from discovery to distribution. You’ve seen the economy come surging back to life, an economy promising the potential for good jobs and expanding opportunities.

Your generation — Gen Z — is the most tech savvy and connected. You were born in an age of smartphones and the internet. Entrepreneurship comes naturally to you. You value diversity and relationships.

Your generation is known for your compassion, open-mindedness and sense of responsibility. You are creative, hardworking and motivated.

We can’t wait to see what your future brings and we know you’re up the challenge to live with purpose and cultivate change. Good luck and best success.