Valedictorian Ezra Green had a confession for his classmates Thursday night.

“I didn’t even know where I was going to college until about two weeks ago,” Green told the Palmerton Area High School Class of 2026 during the school’s commencement ceremony.

It was a moment of deliberate candor from the 122-member class’s top student, who built his entire address around the idea that uncertainty is not something to outgrow; it is something to accept. Green acknowledged the pressure students feel to have life mapped out and pushed back on it directly.

“At 14 years old, we were asked to make decisions about the next 50,” he said.

The secret, Green told graduates, is that adults are no more certain than teenagers.

“Sorry to snitch on all of you, but teachers, parents, coaches, college students, and even adults with successful careers all seem to share the same secret — most of them are just figuring things out as they go, too,” he said.

For those in the crowd feeling behind their peers, Green offered reassurance.

“Most of us aren’t actually falling behind; we’re just at different points in the same process of figuring it out,” he said. “That’s not failure. That’s just what it looks like to grow into someone you haven’t become yet.”

He closed with a simple charge.

“We don’t have to have it all figured out today, because we never have, and that’s been enough to get us here,” Green said.

Salutatorian Dillon Borger struck a similar tone, telling graduates that changing direction is not defeat.

“Going into high school, I was convinced I knew exactly what career I wanted to chase, but I completely turned towards a different direction last year,” Borger said, adding that the lesson he took from it was to embrace change rather than be discouraged by it.

Borger urged the class to stop waiting for easier days.

“If you only wait for the skies to clear, you’ll never discover the beauty of walking through the storm,” he said.

He also asked graduates to look at the ceremony not as an ending, but as a foundation.

“We are not defined by the titles we hold or the accolades we’ve achieved, rather by the dreams we chase, the obstacles we overcome, and the passion with which we live our lives,” Borger said. “We will always carry the memories we made here, but they are not the end of our story.”

Principal Paula Husar told graduates the Class of 2026 had been a demanding one — in the best sense. Many students had mapped out their entire four-year coursework before setting foot in ninth grade, she said, and repeatedly pushed the school to add new course offerings.

“They have definitely kept us on our toes and me on mine,” Husar said.

She centered much of her remarks on communication, calling it an essential skill that social media and texting have eroded.

“If you cannot communicate effectively, life is going to be very hard,” Husar said. “You will not resolve conflict through email. You will not resolve conflict through fists or violence.”

Husar also offered a frank assessment of what this generation has had to navigate. “Being a teenager today is much harder than it was for me, for your parents, for your grandparents,” she said. “You’ve had to navigate challenges quite frankly we never had to face, never even thought of.” Nothing is truly private anymore, she noted, and the pressures of social media and constant scrutiny have made adolescence more complicated than ever.

Still, she said she believes the class is ready. “This class in front of you tonight is a persistent class — that trait will serve you well as you move forward,” Husar said.

School Board President Sherry Haas kept her remarks brief and direct, offering the graduates a single guiding idea.

“Be the best version of yourself, because everyone else is already taken,” she said. Haas told graduates that each of them had arrived at the ceremony by eventually trusting their own voice and following their own direction, even after taking detours trying to follow someone else’s path.

She challenged them to embrace risk.

“Don’t be afraid to try something new just because there’s a chance you might fail,” Haas said. “Every failure adds depth, resilience, and ultimately makes success that much sweeter.”

Haas closed with a reminder that others already believe in what the class can become.

“There are people in this stadium who already see what you are capable of becoming,” she said. “The real challenge is learning to see that you have the same potential within yourself.”