RECAP: Lonely Graduation Book Talk and Workshop
After 12 years of RIISE on Martha's Vineyard, we asked, "What happens after the milestones?"
Our recent gathering at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum brought scholars, families, educators, alums, and community members together for a conversation that stayed with us
With author of Lonely Graduation: The Journey After The Milestone, Dr. Christopher Dennis and our dynamic panelists (thank you: Tim Fields Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Emory University and co-author of The Black Families Guide to College Admissions: A Conversation about Education, Parenting, and Race; Kyle Wilkie Glass CEO/Head of School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School; Berkeley Carroll School parent, school counselor, Dr. Rashidah Bowen White; Riverdale Country School & Brown University alum, Connie Collins), we explored the space between the expectation of achievement, and the reality that can follow it. How do we navigate identity, belonging, and purpose when the next chapter asks something different of us?
This conversation had us consider the difference between what we expect success to look like and the realities, while reflecting on how important community is beyond the celebration.
Thank you to everyone who showed up with honesty, wisdom, and a willingness to make room for the next generation.
We will continue sharing the voices that illuminated the room with reflections that inspire the journey ahead and remind us that achievement is only part of the story.
