Challenge to 2015 (Be Different)

Well graduates, it seems you’ve done it. Congratulations, you’ve got your diploma. Now the real work starts. I’m going to help you out here will some challenging advice.

You’ve grown up immersed in technology which is still growing at an exponential rate. While I don’t realistically foresee a future where we are enslaved by robots, it already seems we’re already slaves, not to technology, but to the culture that’s come with it.

I’m going to issue you a challenge. If you accept it and accomplish it, you will have done something powerful that sets you apart from nearly every other graduate in the western world. It’s breaking the bonds to that culture. Brace yourself, I’m going to tell you what you should do.

Once you’ve got your diploma and twirled your liripoop, here’s what you’re going to do. Don’t take a selfie.

Every kid your age is going to be doing it. You can stand out from the crowd in a radical way. Don’t take a selfie after you’ve graduated. In fact, don’t take one for 12 hours after this ceremony. 

Some of you might have ambitions to change the world. You can start by not making it about you. Don’t take a selfie. Others among you might just want to be rich. How are you going to do that? Be different. Don’t take a selfie. Some of you, perhaps many of you, might not know what to do with your life. Start by doing something memorable. Stand with confidence that this moment will endure even if it’s not captured in a digital image. Don’t take a selfie.

If the rest of the world is doing it, stand out and don’t do it. But if this post goes viral, imagine that. What if the class of 2015 could be known as the class that graduated and social media went dark that night? What would the world think of those graduates who thought more of the world than themselves?

Share this post if you believe in something bigger than yourself. Let’s use social media to make it about something other than a collection of images. Let’s make it real this year. #donttakeaselfe

Commencement 2014

Pomp and Circumstance plays in the background.

Hello my liripoop twirling young men and women. So, you’ve managed to fulfill the requirements laid down by your institution of learning to merit a slip of paper that claims you are ready for the world. If, today, I appear somewhat cynical, it may be that I’m older than you and the person next to you combined. I can tell you that in my first 18 years of life, I learned a lot. But in the next 18 I learned even more. I’m only halfway through my next 18 years, and good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I should be around at the end of that. And who knows what the culture and technology will be like then?

You will indulge my angry old man attitude here, you ought to because your diplomas are here next to me and I could spill my coffee on them if I felt ignored. Yes, in my day we didn’t have social networks. If we wanted to communicate with someone, we had to use a land line. And if, when I was 18 years old, you called the telephone a “land line” you would not have been understood. If you wanted movie times or store hours, you used a phone. If you wanted a driving directions, you had to get a real map you could hold in your hand. If you wanted facts and information, well, we had newspapers, magazines and books.

But today, if I don’t know how to spell a word, I just type it into my computer and it will tell me if I’m right. It might even correct it for me. This has gotten to the point where I might be writing something by hand and I will wait to see if I have a red underline beneath something I’ve written in pen. To tell you the truth, young graduates, I love today’s technology. I can go on the inter-webs and go to The Face Book dot com and look up the group of folks that I graduated with and revel in the knowledge that they are just as old looking as I am. Ha-ha, or should I say, lol, right?

Okay, I understand that there’s no stopping what’s happening and that, for the most part, this new technology is something good. But put your phones down for a moment and hear me out. The wisdom I have to dispense while standing up here is almost finished, and you know what? It’s not worth much. Did I just say that? I think so. You see, when I look all over the internets I see inspirational quotes, sometimes set against some kind of background that is supposed to reinforce the supposed wisdom of what is being stated. Sometimes the quote will be attributed to someone, a pop culture icon or and admired historical figure who’s in favor at the time.

Young graduates, clever soundbites are no match for a few years of trial and error. You are going to make mistakes, some will hurt and some will cost you. However, don’t let any of them be wasted. You will learn more from the mistakes you make than any wisdom offered on social networks.

Out those doors, there’s a real world that does not distinguish how you’ve decorated the flat cap your liripoop hangs from. By all means, have confidence as you go out into it. But know that things will happen that you didn’t plan and didn’t wish for. Those incidents will be where the real learning is.

I’ve taken up enough of your time. My coffee is just about finished and I need to use the restroom now. If you remember one thing from this message, it’s that there is only one you, not done growing in wisdom and knowledge. Please be safe as you celebrate. Live to experience another day.