You’re walking up the aisle to take your seat with many others around you. You hear your family from a distance cheering for you as if you have just won a marathon. You stand and walk across the stage.

Just like that, you have graduated from community college.

Commencement is right around the corner, and the summer break is right behind it. Anticipation is high among graduates, who will don their Riverhawk-blue gowns and accept their diplomas in front of hundreds of people. Finally, our hard work will be rewarded. Mortarboards will fly. Tears will flow. Cue the celebration of all celebrations.

Some of us will move on to bigger and better things: a four-year university, a full-time job, a trip abroad.

But for others, the future is a complete unknown. Embrace it.
Risk is defined as a situation that involves exposure to danger. With any exposure to danger, of course, come consequences. But those consequences should not put a fork in the road of your life or deter you from your goals.

Instead, those consequences should drive you. They should make you work harder. They should make you even prouder to say that you’ve accomplished more than you even knew you craved.

At Campus Current, we understand what being in the hot seat means. We understand that some people will disagree with your work. We know conflict and competition are inevitable. And sadly, we understand that everyone will face failure—big or small—at some point. We are all imperfect human beings, after all.

When the weight on your shoulders starts to bring you down, will you stand up straight and let it go? Or will you let it sink down into you and knock you to the floor?

Our advice: Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t hesitate to make your next move. Step into the world as if you’re dipping your toe into a pool, testing the water before you jump all the way in.

If the water is too cold, jump in anyway. Others will follow. Others will jump in with you.

You can change the world with the tiniest of contributions. Some of those contributions will come easily; others will force you to struggle.

Eventually, happiness will occur in some way.

And with that, you will have taken the first step into your life after graduation and into the world around you.