The end of the school year brings celebrations for the graduate, yet an uneasy transition into the working world for those leaving school. Even those whose graduation is still far off worry about the job market and what their future holds. Students are always happy that another year has been completed but wonder how close that brings them to future goals.

For teachers, who repeat these endings each year, the sense of an ending’s significance is only partly vicarious. Each class is different, and as it moves to the next stage, teachers share their students’ anxiety about the future and hope they are prepared for that next stage — whatever it is. But we also have a sense of a year’s close, and what it means in our own careers and lives.