If you haven’t attended a high school or college graduation recently, you might not know that “honor cords” have become a THING. No longer is it only the honor students with a fancy rope around their shoulders, now you can get a cord for your extracurriculars, community service, membership in a fraternity/sorority, and more.

But there are so many other impressive achievements that warrant mentioning. So here is my incomplete list of virtual cords for the things you did that are worthy of acclaim, but are frequently unseen:

For holding a job (or two!) while going to school
For working the late shift at your job and going in to class the next morning
For surviving being bullied
For stepping in when someone else was being bullied
For surviving abuse
For surviving assault
For surviving mental health crises
For “coming out” to your friends and family as LGBTQIA+
For not being able to come out, but persevering and keeping yourself safe
For dealing with substance abuse
For coming back to school after needing to hit “pause”
For dealing with the bigotry of your classmates
For dealing with the bigotry of your teachers/professors
For figuring out a budget and living by it
For figuring out what a healthy (or unhealthy) relationship looks like

This isn’t just for the recent graduates. Maybe you graduated decades ago, but few people knew that your path was harder. They don’t know that you were figuring out penny by penny how to afford the next semester. Or that you were going through school while parenting or taking care of a younger sibling.

I don’t believe that “whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” But sometimes, there is strength and wisdom that comes along with our trials. I hope it has, or will be, true for you, too.

Happy Graduation!