It’s a big, bright world out there, and hundreds of members of the class of 2013 are poised and ready to conquer it.

For the past two days, high schools throughout Pike County have been marking graduation. Hundreds of students have donned caps and gowns and walked across the stage, or the football field, to collect their hard-earned diplomas and certificates.

They’ve tossed their caps and wagged their tassels as they marked the end of a chapter in their lives and embraced “adulthood,” or at least the 18-year-old version of it.

And somewhere, in the seats and in the stands, their parents have breathed collective sighs of relief.

More than 3.4 million students are expected to graduate from high school this year in America. Many will go on to colleges and universities, seeking four-year degrees. Some will enlist in the military. Others will go directly into the workforce, embracing what one business leader called recently “the real world.”

All will carry with them the lessons learned in the classrooms and on the fields of high school, middle school and elementary school. They’ll be shaped by the teachers who took the time to nurture and encourage – or challenge and push harder; they’ll remember the counselor who always had a kind word or the coach who taught as much about how to be a good man as a good ballplayer; they’ll remember the school that they called home: Goshen, Pike Lib, Charles Henderson, Pike County.

And, more than anything, we hope they’ll carry with them fond memories of Pike County, the place we all call home.

Good luck and Godspeed, Class of 2013.