This past weekend has been a bittersweet touch point in a larger global pause. For so many, especially the class of 2020 and their families, there is a collective and deeply felt sense of poignancy. The end of the semester, especially for graduates, is just not the same.
For those of us who build communities from the head, heart and soul, nothing feels right. As we moved to the on-line space, we learned that we can work together virtually all day. But we cannot replace what it is to be a living, breathing, animated community. It’s this we grieve right now. Especially for the chance for a proper send-off and to celebrate students who discovered themselves and others in collaborative spaces like the LaunchPad.
It’s hard to leave without saying goodbye. Anyone who has done that knows that it is an ache you carry with you for a long time.
As a celebration of their time together, our talented LaunchPad graduates made this welcome video for new students. In some ways, it’s also a goodbye present to each other. Thinking about that will make you both smile and cry when you see it that way.
As we say good luck to our dear LaunchPad graduates, and get ready to welcome new ones to the fold this fall, this much we know: We remain one in spirit. We remain a place where magic happens.
We’ll always be here for you. We’ll be back. We promise to see you again. It’s been a brilliant and heartfelt chapter in your story — with the whole book of your life still to be written. We can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Click here to see this magical video produced by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow Will DeVito ’20 (Newhouse).
The video is a thank you by students who are graduating, and a welcome message to new students who will help build the next class of entrepreneurs and innovators in the LaunchPad.