C5 Graduation: Five Years of Showing Up and Countless Moments of Growth.
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Forty-two young people stood together at Tech Boston Academy in May and recited words they have spent the last five years building toward:
I am Character-Driven. I am Community-Focused. I am Challenge-Ready. I am College/Career-Bound. I am Committed to a Better Future.
For the Crossroads C5 Leaders Class of 2026, graduation marked the culmination of a journey years in the making, created through courage, relationships, growth, and the simple but powerful act of continuing to show up.
Crossroads President Ned Parsons reflected on that journey during his remarks, sharing the idea that every meaningful story begins with a choice: stepping across a threshold into something new. He reminded graduates that growth starts with the willingness to take that first step.
Years ago, these graduates did exactly that. They said yes to an interview. Yes to trying something unfamiliar. Yes to stepping into a new community.
As Class Speaker Victoria Fleuriót reflected on her own experience, she shared one of her earliest memories of Crossroads: receiving a hand-me-down C5 Bridges shirt from her sister long before she fully understood what it represented. “She showed me that I belonged in spaces I hadn’t even stepped into yet.”
What began as an invitation into a new community became five years of people showing up for one another, encouraging growth, and creating the kind of support that helps young people take risks, overcome challenges, and keep moving forward toward their goals and aspirations.
Over the course of five years in C5, this class experienced leadership opportunities, roundtable lunches with mentors, college campus visits, service projects, adventures, challenges, and countless moments in between. Along the way, they learned that leadership is not about having all the answers at this moment.
“Real leadership doesn’t wait for a perfect structure or perfect moment. You won’t always have everything planned,” Victoria reminded her classmates, “but you can always start, and you can always pivot.”
Delivering the commencement address, C5 alum Courtney “CJ” Wilson, Class of 2021, reminded graduates that growth often happens before we even realize it.
“It’s not about who you were when you first walked into this program,” he shared. “It’s about who stayed. Wherever life takes you next, don’t stop."
Keep showing up. Keep growing. Keep becoming better than who you were yesterday.
Director of the C5 Leaders Program Letia Jones shared how inspiring it has been watching this class evolve into leaders who learned to support one another, rise to opportunities for growth, and use their voices with confidence.
C5 Leaders graduation reflects the courage it took to take that first step years ago, and all of the steps that followed.
Congratulations, C5 Class of 2026. We cannot wait to see where your journey leads next.
As Crossroads celebrates 90 years of supporting young people, we invite you learn about our C5 Leaders Program and how you can be part of our community.
