The GED is Plan B.

The GED tests are a way to finish high school without completing the traditional four year program at a traditional four year school.

I pursued the GED because my family situation made it impractical to both care for them and pursue my diploma in a diligent fashion. It has never really bothered me that I had to get my GED, but it has always bothered me that it limited my options.

My sister recently received her GED for similar reasons. There was a graduation ceremony, and I initially didn’t want to go. Academic ceremonies tend to make me puke.* They tend to remind me of High School, and people who want to remember High School unnerve me.

*Except College Graduations.

But we went, and I was very happy for it.  Unlike other ceremonies, I felt very included. The ceremony celebrated the hard work and initiative it takes to get the GED. But beyond that, it really brought something home for me.

The GED program was started to enable WWII vets to return to civilian life. And while none of the stories shared were so severe as a war experience, all of them shared something that they had been through. Whether that something was parenthood, immigration, or just dropping out, the acquiring of the GED meant something because of that something. The GED signified the moving on and the triumphing over some extreme life situation.

Maybe it’s not a High School Diploma. But it means that you’ve made it. Life has met you, and you have socked life in the face.

Rock on GED recipients.

Nathan Hathaway Adams