by Rudolph A. Neal 

NOTE: Slightly adapted from a Letter to the Editor by yours truly, entitled: “Commencement or Culminating Exercises”, dated June 10, 2016. 
Over the past few weeks, the air was filled with the mellifluous playing of the Pomp and Circumstance tune. This signaled that it was that time of year again when schools all across Belize would be hosting their “commencement exercises”. From the time of my first graduation, which was many, many years ago, I had always wondered why graduation ceremonies were referred to as “commencement exercises”. I later understood that graduation ceremonies are referred to as commencement exercises due to the fact that it is preparing students for a ‘new beginning’. It offers the perception that it is only the start of all things great and new. It is designed to give students the unalterable hope that it is at this point that their lives will just begin – wherein a copious amount of opportunities will flood their way and where many doors will be open and countless paths will be there to explore and trod.
This, however, while it is an innocent idea that gives the impression of something good, is but a mere illusion to the masses of graduates, except for a privileged few. At the end of these commencement exercises, there are indeed doors that are swung wide open and paths that are paved with good intentions. However, this is only the reality for a few privileged persons. The reality for the majority of the masses is that at the end of those “commencement exercises,” that is where the buck stops for many. They are left to try and garner support from community members and stakeholders to try and further their studies locally, if even on a part-time basis. Others are left to try and find a part-time job after high school to fund their educational aspirations, which they will only be able to carry out on a part-time basis.
Truth be told, while the term “commencement exercise” is being used and offers the illusion of a myriad of opportunities waiting to be explored, that is not the case. The reality is that these “commencement exercises” signal the end for many students’ educational aspirations and employment opportunities. Most of them are forced to take basic wage jobs after the completion of high school, and in many cases, with the demands and required work hours of these jobs, educational aspirations wither and die and the quest for sustenance and survival takes effect. As these dreams die, the once pursuant become complacent and settle where they are. This then means that we should seriously take some time to reflect and evaluate whether or not it is really a commencement exercise or a culminating activity that these students are undergoing.
Finally, this then explains the cycle that young people in our society are going through. They are forced to grapple with a few, limited opportunities after their proverbial “commencement exercise”. Having completed their high schooling, the availability of opportunities, both pedagogical and employment-wise, is limited to scarce. This adds credence to why many young people are left to grapple with the hardships and fragmentation of society. While admittedly some efforts are being made to retain young people longer in the educational system and incentives are being offered to assist students in furthering their studies, there needs to be a more comprehensive and unified effort to ensure that students are really given the opportunities that they deserve so as to bring true meaning to the term “commencement exercise”. Until a serious and concerted effort is made to retain our young people longer in the educational system and furnish them with opportunities to further their studies and advance themselves, we will continue to conduct culminating activities as opposed to commencement exercises. 

Unchained Reflections Of A Liberal Pragmatist