by Jessica Harris
Jessica Harris is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has written for Vinegar Hill Magazine for three years. She’s passionate about accessible arts education, community-based work and, of course, 70s & 80s music.
Tassels turned. Caps thrown. Cameras flashed. Amidst smiles and tears, the class of 2026 celebrated the milestone of completing their high school careers this past week in the Charlottesville area. As the kids say, it’s #graduationszn.
And once the pomp and circumstance of this time comes to a close, students move on to their next chapters. Whether employment, enlistment, further education or taking time to assess their options, students pursue a variety of routes. In many cases, students are choosing to stay in the area and remain rooted in Charlottesville/Albemarle.
As these local high school seniors complete their steps across the graduation stage, they stare down their future in this community — a future filled with uncertainty, with hope, with possibility.
The question is thus: is this community a place where they are able to thrive? Are there sufficient opportunities for them to engage? Resources to support them? How are we collectively working to ensure the future is bright for these graduates?
On paper, it seems this might be an uphill battle. Twenty-seven percent of families in Charlottesville did not earn enough to provide for their family’s basic needs in 2024 when it came to expenses like housing, childcare and food. The median household income in 2023 for white residents in Charlottesville/Albemarle was $102,100, compared to $48,200 for Black residents. And youth participation in the labor force for people aged 16-19 in both Charlottesville and Albemarle is below that of the state overall. Across Virginia, 40% of this age group works. In Charlottesville, it’s 34%. In Albemarle, it’s 24%. These numbers may suggest low engagement for our young people.
As graduates look to the future, I was curious to hear what their hopes were for our community. What might this region do that moves beyond word and towards actualizing possibility? How do they envision a future that includes them and centers their needs?
Nasir Wayne, 17, is a Charlottesville High School (CHS) graduate who has lived locally nearly his entire life. His connections with family and friends are deep and broad in this city, and he considers this place his home. Most recently, Wayne received the Ryan Vaughn Community Builder Award from ReadyKids, in recognition of his advocacy efforts around mental health and support of his community.
After graduating, he’s planning to become a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technician and is staying in the area. He aims to pursue the training necessary at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC). But Wayne believes there are many things to be done to improve this region, particularly around service mobilization.
Wayne said if he had a magic wand he would encourage “looking for those in need instead of asking people to come together. I think you actually go out and look to try and help people so they can actually feel wanted and receive actual support.”
His sentiments speak to the challenges that individuals face when navigating resources. Oftentimes individuals in need of support take on the extra burden of navigating complex systems and applications to receive services, rather than the services meeting individuals where they are. While Charlottesville has over 2,000 organizations in the metro area doing fantastic work, navigating these resources can be a challenge.
CHS graduate Zaharra Colla, 17, spoke to some of these same obstacles as well. Also a lifelong Charlottesville resident, Colla expressed her desire for Charlottesville to become a place that is welcoming and accessible to all — not just some.
When asked about resources, mentors, and ongoing support, Colla named the challenges in accessing these opportunities.
“You have to be going out to seek them. And I almost wish that you (could) meet in the middle and then maybe a third party or something like that would be able to help with those bridges.”
She, too, expressed the need for resource collaboration, consolidation and navigation.
Her magic wand would also give people a “mindset of curiosity…I think if people who are meeting new people or who are going into new spaces, just enter it with curiosity and wanting to learn, that could fix a lot of problems,” she said.
Colla named a special interest in the community extending warmer welcomes to people with international backgrounds and those who may have unique needs.
Addressing this gap in resources is especially significant as Charlottesville is becoming increasingly more diverse and varied in experience and demographics — with non-white and non-Black racial and ethnic groups increasing over the past 10 years, and economic gaps widening. Colla voiced that making things more accessible should be a priority — from more widespread regional transit to geographically and financially accessible events and resources.
This summer, Colla is interning with the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Jefferson Madison Regional Library, focused on library studies. She’s also serving as the arts education intern at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. She’s weighing her options for the fall, and will either enroll in a 4-year school, or will take credits at PVCC with a goal to transfer. Her end goal is to study global affairs, with a focus on international political economy, aspiring to serve in the foreign service or as a diplomat.
When asked what they love most about the community, Wayne, in alignment with his community-building ethos, shared that he loves that Charlottesville is “super diverse, and you can meet a lot of genuinely good people.” Colla equally appreciates the diversity of experiences that the community and the University of Virginia offer and the chances to learn and engage in various events.
There certainly are many organizations and individuals doing phenomenal work in our community. Local Human and Social Services and programs like Charlottesville City’s Community Attention for local youth; immigrant and refugee supports like the International Rescue Committee; and other job and resource navigators like Network2Work@PVCC all are making strides towards the items Colla and Wayne raised. Not to mention the hundreds of other organizations who show up and do meaningful work each and every day.
Perhaps resources like these are part of why both grads are looking to stay or come back to Charlottesville in some capacity. This investment locally speaks also to their roots in the community, their passion for giving back and desire to leave this area better than they found it. Colla even expressed interest in starting a nonprofit to help provide transportation and afterschool opportunities for youth.
Graduates locally and across the nation must decide if the efforts they make in their careers will be designed to enrich the places they call home or if they will venture out on paths elsewhere. While both routes have strengths and opportunities, students like Colla and Wayne remind us that we as a community should work to ensure our area remains a place that makes both pathways possible. Students who stay must be able to find success and economic mobility, and students who leave should be adequately prepared and supported in their ability to pursue possibility.
This support includes proper training, employment and enrichment opportunities that cultivate the skills and resources necessary to be successful — both here and elsewhere. We should continue to amplify the great work taking place by organizations locally, while grappling intentionally with the challenges and disparities we face. To me, our young people are well positioned to do this both/and; they meet the barriers head-on, and often have the ideas and energy to tackle them.
In speaking with these two graduates, I left our conversations more hopeful than when we began. Their optimism, understanding of possibility and investment in the community inspire me. I look forward to seeing where these graduates’ next chapters take them, both in Charlottesville and beyond. And I look forward to working alongside our community members to ensure our area is one where we know all our emerging adults can thrive.
Hats off, Class of 2026.