The world is constantly changing. We’ve got new developments in science, technology, politics, jobs, education, and many, many more. A lot of these different facets of life are changing for better or worse, whether we like it or not. So, what kind of world is the class of 2024 graduating into?

There is no doubt that many of this year’s seniors, including myself, are worried in some way about money or finances, wondering how they’re going to pay for college, get a job, pay rent, etc. There’s good reason to be concerned. Over the last 20 years, tuition for in-state public universities has gone up 56 percent, adjusted for inflation. When my parents went to school they were paying roughly five grand per year. Now, people graduate tens of thousands of dollars in debt, all while being paid starting salaries that won’t make up for it. Not only have tuition prices gone up, the price of rent has been skyrocketing over the past few years.

Nothing is more pressing in the world, especially in America, than the social-political climate. The world seems as if it’s on the brink of another great war, tensions are high all across the world, and climate change is getting worse. The federal government spending $30 billion funding both sides of a war, protests constantly on the streets, and a lack of trust in the powers that be. All of this is combatable. All of this can be changed, for the better, by this year’s high school graduates. At least we can try. The federal government may be bought out by large corporations, but we can try to elect younger people, with policies and views we agree with. We can start to think critically about these different issues, look at a politician for who they are, and what they say, not the letter in parentheses next to their name. We can learn to accept and understand other points of view, not just look at them as our enemies. One of America’s strengths is its diversity of views and opinions, but even bigger is our ability to unite as one nation, and make choices for the greater good. I have confidence in this year’s graduating class to do just that.

Technology is improving greatly and is leaps and bounds above what it was 20 years ago. We have insane computers that we can fit in our pockets, with access to any information we want, and cameras nearly as good as professional ones. We have self-driving cars, remote jobs, and incredible medical technology. Everything is within the push of a button, gaining convience, but at what cost? With everything available online, we are slowly, but surely, losing much of our human connection. Technology is good, and it’s definitely something we should continue to improve, but we need to be wary of its growing prioritization over human interaction.

Seniors are also graduating into a world where many are struggling, especially with their mental health. Almost 50 percent of adolescents have had some sort of mental health disorder at some point in their lives. So many disasters have resulted from poor mental health and neglect. Right here in Michigan Ethan Crumbley was showing signs of poor mental health leading up to his shooting up Oxford High School. While this is not an excuse, mental health is a big contributor to the tragedies occurring in this world. Almost 50,000 people die by suicide each year, a number that should be zero. It’s up to this next group of adults to change the stigma around mental health, making talking about your feelings okay, especially in young men, many of whom feel like they can’t speak about such things for whatever reasons.

Many of these things can be changed, not quickly, but they can be improved. The world is hard to change, and maybe that’s a good thing. There’s plenty of good things in the world, outnumbering the bad by far, giving us hope and optimism. The good things are what makes life worth living, what makes us want to fight to make things better, and solve our problems. This world often seems grim, people saying “it is what it is,” but that doesn’t have to be true if we don’t want it to be. It’s now up to the graduating seniors of the class of 2024 to act, to make the world a better place, not just for ourselves, but for the rest of humanity.