I distinctly remember riding passenger side with three of my closest friends before our senior years of undergrad, discussing our post-grad plans. The girls chatted about jobs they were applying for, or if they should consider getting their masters degrees right away, while I listened intently.

One of my friends turned to me and said, “Payton, will you be going for your masters?”

Instantly with a snort I said, “God no, that’s not necessary.”

I didn’t need a masters degree in journalism, and frankly I was “over” spending countless hours studying, going to school, and working part-time. I was ready to be working full time, focusing on my future and making money.

Fast-forward two years later to the summer of 2018 and I found myself applying to master’s programs. I was excited to be back in the classroom, to be learning from some of my favorite professors from undergrad, and to become a more well–rounded employee.

As the saying goes, we always want what we don’t have. Once I was in the thick of a 75 hour week between school and work, I was really missing what it felt like to get more than four hours of sleep each night.

 I finished up classes in December of 2019, and when I was given the choice to have my degree mailed to me or to wait to receive it at graduation in May, I instantly knew which I would choose. After the countless hours and literal tears I poured into that very expensive piece of paper, I was looking forward to the last time I would walk across a graduation stage.

What I didn’t expect then, was that I would in fact receive my masters degree in the mail.

I definitely didn’t picture celebrating the culmination of 15 months of really hard work within the confines of my home...but there are many worse things going on in this world than me not being able to walk across a stage and shake hands (gasp – hand touching!) with the (wonderful) President of Western New England University.

I’m lucky. Not only did I get to experience my high school graduation, but I also had an Associates Degree graduation and a Bachelor’s Degree graduation. I’m still missing out (a little) but I know what it’s like to walk across the stage and be celebrated for a degree that I worked really hard for. And, perhaps, I still will get to walk across the stage one day when everything is a bit safer.

I feel for the high school seniors and college seniors who missed out on events like their spring sports seasons, their proms and senior formals, their senior weeks, their graduations. They put in the work to get their diplomas, and they’ve earned it. They deserve to be recognized.

The Reminder Publishing news team has a group chat, and a few weeks ago within it we were discussing what some local high schools have announced they’ll be doing in an effort to honor high school graduates. One of our Staff Writers, Danielle Eaton, said, “We should do something to honor the seniors, like do a listing of all of their names in the paper or something.” Instantly I thought – this could be so much bigger than that – and we discussed back and forth ideas for ways we could honor our grads.

Dani shared our ideas with our General Manager, Fran Smith, who took off with it. Two weeks later, we now have announced plans to create what we are calling “Grad Tabs.” Essentially, they are five tabloid–style magazines that will be inserted into all of our newspapers, The Republican and will be on MassLive for a year.

They will have notes from superintendents, from valedictorians, a listing with the names of each graduate and academic distinctions, photos from events that took place prior to the school year’s abrupt ending, and more.

The tabs will be sectioned as follows: a tab for East Longmeadow High School, Longmeadow High School, Minnechaug Regional High School, and Ludlow High School. One for Westfield High, Westfield Academy, St. Mary’s, Southwick High, Gateway, and White Oak. Another tab for Chicopee High, Chicopee Comp, and Holyoke High. One for Agawam High School and West Springfield High School. And, finally, a tab for Central High, Sci–Tech, Putnam, Pope Francis, and Commerce.

A column or two ago I wrote about how I’ve witnessed so many people selflessly coming together during this time. This pandemic has left a lot of people feeling like they aren’t doing enough. We’ve had many conversations at our managers meetings discussing what we can do to help our advertisers – how we can help local businesses during this tough time. The grad tabs are something that we at Reminder Publishing have the ability to do, to honor our local high school graduates, to show our appreciation for our communities.

Of course, we cannot deny the obvious that we are a business as well. A business that is not immune to the pandemic. In the grad tabs, there is the opportunity for local businesses to purchase an ad supporting the graduates and to offer a congratulatory message. There is also the opportunity for families to purchase their own ad to congratulate their graduate, with or without a photo of their student, if they so choose.

In the first post we made promoting this grad tab section on our Facebook page, a reader commented that we should be doing this section to honor the graduates without asking parents to buy an ad. I get it – these are tough times for everyone. Some people aren’t able to afford to purchase an ad – some people aren’t able to purchase basic necessities right now. I understand that this might be off-putting to some, and I apologize for that. Your student and their name will be listed in our grad tab regardless – they will be honored for their hard work, no matter what.

However, the reality is, we are a business. We do need to make money to support our staff and their families, and we also want to continue to bring a free newspaper to our readers' doorsteps each week. We’re so excited to be doing something to support the thousands of students in our circulation area that deserve to be recognized, and I hope our readers will see that this is our sincere intention.

If you are interested and would like to purchase a personalized message for your student, you can head over to HonorYourGrad.com, the site that the company created for this grad tab. If you’re not, or you can’t afford to, like I said – we understand, and your student will still be honored.

To all the graduates: congratulations. I wish each of you great success and luck on your next venture.