President Biden on Tuesday gave a surprise video address to the graduating class of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who were freshmen at the time of the deadly mass shooting in 2017.
Biden praised the graduating seniors for turning pain into purpose and darkness into light, ABC News reports.
“Three years ago, your lives and the lives of this community changed in an instant,” Biden said in the video. “This class lost a piece of its soul. You’ve been tested in ways no young person should ever have to face — from a freshman year, a year of unspeakable loss, to a junior and senior year upended by a pandemic.”
“But the story of this class and the Parkland community isn’t just a story of pain,” he continued. “It’s a story of resilience, turning pain to purpose and darkness to light. This is the legacy you’re building and the legacy you’ll continue to build.”
“No graduation class gets to choose the world into which they graduate,” he added. “Every once in a while, every few generations, young people come along at a point in history with a chance to make real change.”
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, leaving 17 dead. Of the 14 students who died, nine would have graduated this year. Instead, their parents accepted their diplomas on their behalf, ABC reports.