We asked readers for advice for the graduates of the Class of 2022.

Here are some responses:

What a trip

A letter to the graduating Class of 2022 from someone who envies you, but is glad I lived when I did. I hope you all see the changes in the world that I did. Boy what a trip you are in for:

Yesterday has passed, tomorrow is unknown. But today is the day your adventure in life begins.

You are at the beginning of a new chapter in your lives. In fact I believe that your lives really start today. What happens from now on will determine what you do and who you will be. It’s going to be the most exciting and frightening time of your lives. But I firmly believe that it will be wonderful with adventures that you cannot even begin to imagine. You will see things that others can only dream about, I envy you your age and what the changes you can make. There is nothing that you cannot do and nothing that you can’t become. The future is yours to control. How you react over the next few years will determine your ultimate future and maybe the future of others!

I have to say that at my age of 86 I cannot think of one thing I would change in the direction I went. Born and then spent my childhood during the second world war in England. A time that was hard and frightening being bombed but never really wondered about tomorrow. At that time I was too busy playing with friends or being sent out with a shopping list by my mother to wait endlessly in lines to get the basic foods. Then once a month I was able to get candy with my ration coupon. I always got “Tom Thumb Drops” because they were so small I thought I got more.

School for me was a distraction from my imaginary world of playing cowboys and Indians or getting apples from some farmers’ trees before being chase with a shotgun. Running so fast and leaping over five bar gates in a single bound to get away before the farmer fired salt shot at us. Which I have to tell you stung like hell, never dared to complain about it at home otherwise I’d be dragged back to apologize to the farmer or whoever we had taken apples from. These are times that at my age I now treasure; they are my dreams and memories that I would not change for all the gold in the world. I could go on telling you about being bombed and of my father who never wasted an opportunity in his life. These are stories for another time. Although I would like to tell you about my first school. We had an air raid shelter but there was not enough seats for the whole school so the last class in had to stand, which always seemed to be my class.

The one thing that I would ask of you all is that you grow up loving the great country that we live in. Just look around you all and see that in America we are made up of all different people. But we should always remember that we are the same no matter what our background was. We live, I firmly believe, in the greatest country in the world and have opportunities that are unimaginable in many other countries.

Incidentally I became an American citizen many years ago and am proud to call myself “American” not “English American” just AMERICAN!

I digress a bit, in my working life I traveled to a great many of countries, some good and some really bad. Some countries where life is not held dearly as here in the USA and some where life was not. I saw things that I never thought possible and living conditions that even today are too hard to describe. In fact I have to admit that on more that one occasion I felt like falling to my knees and kissing the ground when I came back to America.

During one trip I was to meet my wife in London airport after being in Poland, I was there when the Russians were leaving and thought because of the confusion in Warsaw and the airports I would never get out. But as you can tell I did, I am not ashamed to tell you that when I met my wife I broke down and cried I was so happy and relieved to see her for I honestly thought I would never see her again or the USA.

My reason for telling you this is that “Love America.” Love it despite all its problems and help it get better. Be the ones that are the generation that we have tried to be. Be the ones that we need to help complete our work.

May God Bless you ALL and help guide you on your future path!

Michael Shapcott, Ph.D.

Lehighton

Do the right thing

When I was ready to graduate 47 years ago my pastor, the late Rev. Monsignor Joseph Dooley, advised me to walk through life in such a way that I would not have any regrets later in life. He shared this quote with me from John Greenleaf Whittier: “For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’?”

He was right! I would give that same advice to the members of the Class of 2022. Walk through life trying to do the right thing. Do the right thing even when no one is watching. Do the right thing even if you are the only one doing it. Do the right thing even when others laugh or criticize you for doing it. Do the right thing even if no one thanks you for doing it. Do the right thing the next time even if you failed the last time.

Pray often and trust in God’s plan for you and your life. Laugh a lot. Forgive others. Share your time, talents, and treasures with those in need. Don’t get discouraged when you fail.

Learn from your mistakes and take responsibility for them. Smile. Ask questions. Enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Take time to rest and relax.

Be loyal and dependable. Respect the elderly. Keep promises. Be humble. Encourage others. Listen. Believe in miracles. Look for the goodness in others. Be kind to your enemies. Seek advice from others. Love. Love some more. Keep loving.

John M. Nonnemacher, CPA

Hazleton

Jim Thorpe High School

Class of 1975