No one has ever asked me to speak at a graduation ceremony. I have friends who did, but I can’t tell you much beyond a basic outline of what they talked about. In fact, I never really liked the concept of the smart kids talking at the end; I always felt it would be far more interesting to find out what the dumb kids at the bottom of the class who barely squeaked by had to say.
That being said, when I started this blog, I was upset that I hadn’t done it a few weeks before, when it could coincide with graduation ceremonies (or at least those that I was aware of – I know people graduate in June but shut up I’m used to early May graduations). So I’ve been holding on to this thought for the past year, waiting until now to try to put it into written form. Graduating class of 2010, this is for you:
To the graduating class of 2010, I have only two things to say to you. The first is a congratulations on your accomplishments. The second is that after today, you probably won’t remember a single thing I’ve said.
Not that I blame you. I only remember vague things about some of the speeches I’ve heard at graduations over the years; someone read The Giving Tree, someone else talked about Legos, and I think one dude bastardized the Gettysburg Address so it was about school and dreams and future accomplishments.
A lot of people would tell you that you should follow your dreams, that you’re going to change the world. And while there’s a statistically tiny chance that this might be true for one of you, the rest of you graduates probably won’t do much. In fact, some of you will fail at life. Hard.
And now here’s the part of the speech where I talk about resilience. But if you’ve seen any movie in pretty much ever, you know that you have to fail in order to get back up. Sometimes, you need a montage. A wisecracking sidekick can help. Also, explosions.
Where were we?
Oh yeah, so most of you right now are brimming with potential. And most of you are talking to the people seated around you, or texting, or surfing the web on your iPhones, or tossing around beach balls because hey, you just want your name to be called so you can walk onstage, get your diploma, and move on.
And move on you will. In three years, hell, in three MONTHS, you might find yourself drifting away from some people who, for the last four years, have been closer to you than your own family. And sure, there’s Facebook, Twitter and all those sites to keep you connected, but you will drift apart. You’ll lose friends without noticing. And one day, when you’re in the bathroom reading the classifieds section because you find the personals hilarious, you’ll suddenly wonder, “Whatever happened to…”
I’m aware this is all terribly depressing.
Then again, if you’re one of the millions of people looking for a job right now (and you probably are), or if you’re one of the millions of people terrified of the coming onslaught of student loans (and you probably are), or even if you’re just now realizing that a specialization in ancient Sumerian pottery wasn’t the best choice (okay, only a few of you might), you’re used to bad news.
For the past few years, people have been talking about how shitty the economy is, how bad the employment rate is, and how difficult things are going to be for each year of graduates. And you’re probably sick of it. You will break the mold. You will be different. You will not find yourself back living with your parents as you struggle to find any sort of work that actually has relevance to what you want to do with your life.
But like I said before, most of you will find the opposite to be true.
So enjoy the little things. Don’t be afraid to try new things. The great thing about a lousy economy and a bad employment rate is that you can do a whole mess of stuff with a lot less riding on your success. Take that trip you always wanted to go on. Learn a new skill. Go back to school so you can avoid the real world for a little while longer.
What I’m saying to you is this: you don’t have to fix everything. Sure, you can try to help, but don’t lose sight of yourself. You’re young, fresh, wide-eyed and ready to change the world. And if it doesn’t turn out so great, you have years ahead of you to recover from it. And even if you don’t change the world, you might be able to help a few people along the way.
I don’t expect any of you to remember any of this. I don’t plan on being stopped on the street 15 years from now by one of you who says, “I really appreciate what you said at my graduation.” I do expect you to go out into the world and try to do something.
But right now, I expect you to all pat yourselves on the back for making it this far. So welcome to that “real world” you’ve been hearing so much about, graduates. And good luck.
