Most high school seniors have already walked across that long stage, accepted their diploma with one hand and shaken hands with the school board president or superintendent with the other.
Lofty graduation speeches were presented to distracted fellow graduates, eager to get on with the task of living.
It's a shame most commencement speeches are ignored because those speeches often present some of the best life lessons around.
An Internet search brings up lists of the top commencement speeches given, and it's not a surprise the late Steve Jobs' 2005 "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish" speech to Stanford grads ranks as one of the best.
Jobs readily admits he didn't go to college. He tells the audience the "only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."
That's tough advice to accept in a world where graduates are encouraged to find a career that will make them a lot of money. That attitude often breeds apathy, cynicism and greed, three traits television personality Stephen Colbert advised graduates to avoid.
"Cynicism masquerades as wisdom but it is the farthest thing from it," Colbert said, and that's good advice for students who often pretend to be nonchalant about life or think life is all about them.
Graduates, it's time to care about life and to fight inequality, greed and corruption. Those vices are rampant in today's society, but there are quite a few people fighting that battle. Join them and never stop trying to make the world a better place.
Changing the world is a scary prospect for graduates. After high school, they're expected to head off to college, bring home a 4.0 and follow a set career path. College graduates have it worse. They're burdened with a staggering amount of college debt and bleak job prospects.
Talk of loyalty and peace, as President John F. Kennedy talked about with the graduates of American University in 1963, is seldom delivered from the graduation podium.
What kind of advice will graduates remember? In a world of quickly forgotten Twitter posts and frivolous text messages, graduates are often looking for practical advice delivered in less than 10 minutes. So here goes.
Be a responsible member of society. Work tirelessly for peace, justice and equality.
It's okay to fail. As author J.K. Rowling told graduates at Harvard, failing and starting at rock bottom actually made her a better person. Michael Dell also said failure is an opportunity to learn for "there is very little learning in success."
Have some fun. Life is filled with responsibilities and duties – don't forget to laugh along the way.
Quit wasting time. As Jobs told those Stanford graduates: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
Save for a rainy day but splurge on a banana split every once in a while.
Listen to good music, whether it's jazz, opera, rap, rock or country. Nothing soothes the soul like a piano, guitar or a saxophone.
Be kind. Whether you stop to help a child, listen to an elder talk about the good old days or refrain from sending that nasty text message at 2 a.m., remember to be gentle as you travel through life.
Everybody has something to tell you, Class of 2012, so accept advice that means something to you, leave the flotsam behind and get busy.
Your time is now and it's time to start living.
Don't waste another minute.
We're counting on you.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.
No comments:
Post a Comment