The Future of Our 2012 High School Graduates

July is the month of high school graduations in Venezuela. It is a custom in our country for the soon-to-be graduates to drive around in caravans on the last day of classes to celebrate the occasion, and the joy you feel is indescribable. They have waited years for that moment, when one of the best stages in a young person’s life begins, with many hopes, responsibilities and a future still to be defined.

This year in particular, I felt deeply moved when I saw those caravans go by, above all because I know what it costs a young person today to get through primary and secondary school with thousands of problems that we never experienced in our youth.

The first thing I thought, with tears in my eyes, was: “My God, what lies ahead for these kids.” My own caravan from the eighties went through my mind, and I compared it with these of 2012. I remembered my last day of classes (in 1983), with a crowd of us packed into the car, shouting, celebrating, with the radio blasting songs by Guillermo Dávila, Ilan Chester, Yordano and others in the background. At that moment, the last thing on our minds was how complicated life would get twenty years later.

Those of us who stayed to raise and provide for our families in a country that has undergone drastic changes have experienced firsthand the difference between these two generations. And our schoolage children go through hell just to get to class (if the street isn’t blocked, if there’s water, if there’s electricity, if they can find transportation) and then study from home with the constant Internet outages.

From a generation that lived in the “it’s cheap, give me two” dream to a generation that shows solidarity and is committed to its people and its country. From a generation that cared very little about politics to one that, from the age of ten (or earlier), begins to think and talk about its Homeland, Venezuela, and its problems, with exemplary wisdom and skill.

A generation that has suffered terribly, listening to the anguish and horror stories of their parents, teachers or friends about murders, kidnappings, home invasions, and so on and so forth, if some of them have not already been the protagonists of one of these stories.

Young people who have experienced firsthand the shortages, the hours in traffic, the chaos of the Metro, the paperwork and the long lines for any errand. They are young people who also have a great time at parties, as we did; but they know that they might not make it home alive, and that if they don’t check in regularly with their parents by cell phone, they could give them a heart attack from worry.

These generations of the 2000s are “all-terrain” generations who have been through thousands of problems, and many of them will stay here, working as hard as anyone. Others will go abroad to work hard there, hoping to come back soon and also contribute to the development of the country where they were born.

Now I share with you part of a speech given by a young man at a high school graduation a few days ago:

“We know that ours is a generation that has had it hard, and for that reason we see the need to build a better society through our example and our actions. We have understood, in capital letters, that much of Venezuela’s future is in our hands… Our goal must be that, when we grow old, we do not repeat the same old words, ‘everything was better when I was young,’ but that when we are old we say: ‘This is better than in my day, and I was part of the progress and true development of this magnificent nation called Venezuela.’”

When I went up to congratulate the young man, I asked him why he had said that last paragraph, which had struck me deeply. He told me: “We’re tired of older people always saying ‘in my day it was safer,’ ‘in my day there weren’t so many lines,’ ‘in my day food was dirt cheap,’ ‘in my day we traveled more,’ in my day… in my day… We’re tired of all the complaining. What we have to do is solve things!”

What a lesson I learned from that young man, who, by the way, had the chance to study abroad and decided to stay and earn his degree in Venezuela.

And there are many young people like him. That is why there is plenty of Hope here. Because, as they say, “Everything is for the Good,” and everything we have lived through, and everything we have suffered, has been worth it to have a generation that, as I always shout from the rooftops, is unlike any other! Congratulations, kids! And keep going, because you will fulfill the dream you have set your hearts on: a better country than the one you have lived in until now!