The next two weekends will witness hundreds of high school graduates loosed upon the world, with diplomas in hand to prove that they have endured the most unusual educational circumstances witnessed in decades.

We congratulate them, and wish them well, and also successful further travels. May their paths forward not be ringed with dragons and demons such as COVID-19.

There will be roadblocks, but these graduates have already endured and learned how to prevail. They have endured the usual K-12 grind, growing in knowledge, stature and judgment. They have endured shutdowns, online work, and partial reopenings since March 2020. They have endured separation from friends and activities that mean so much to people of any age, and especially to young people just getting their feet under them for the independent routes leading forward.For perspective, we feel it is worth repeating here the words of this newspaper from one year ago, in June 2020, as COVID-19 was gathering itself for the s...