Commencement Addresses…

It’s the season of caps and gowns, white dresses-it’s a tradition in Florida that the graduating senior girls wear white dresses- and “Open Houses” if you live in Michigan. If you turn on the news or scroll through Instagram or X you’ll find clips from notable college commencement addresses. In the last week, country music star, Eric Church, sang and played his guitar as he delivered his address to the graduating class at the University of North Carolina. You may have seen clips from various CEOs and tech titans warning young adults of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change their future drastically. Famed retired tennis phenom, Roger Federer addressed those graduating from Dartmouth College back in 2024 with his pearls of wisdom for a happy and prosperous life. It was very good. If you can watch it or a few minutes of it on Your Tube, you’ll be inspired.

Commencement addresses have inspired books. Do you recall the address that Admiral William H. McRaven gave back in 2024 to the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin? The Admiral took inspiration from the university’s motto, “What starts here changes the world.“ During his words shared for the graduates, he reflected on the ten principals he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome obstacles not only in his training and long Naval career, but throughout his life. He felt that these lessons would help change them and the world, for better. McRaven’s address went viral and led to a book, Make Your Bed, little things that can change your life and maybe the world. Another notable address that resulted in a book, was University of Michigan alumni, Brad Meltzer’s Make Magic in the Big House in 2024. Meltzer is an attorney, author, known for his thrillers, comic books, historical non-fiction and children’s books. This is another address that is excellent viewing. Brad is an incredible speaker and story teller. When we are invited to a graduation party, I put together a card, check and an inspiring book. Both of these books have been one of those.

For a speaker at graduation, whether it is high school or college, it must be hard to come up with something that will inspire and entertain a crowd of teenagers, young adults, parents, grandparents and younger siblings, basically the gamut of the population. They know that the graduates may or may not be listening but living in day of social media, they could be speaking to a world wide audience.

Planning to write a “commencement address” for this week’s blog post, I went back to see if I had written about this before and I found a document. It was a blog post written back in 2021 an essay written to the high school graduates who spent their senior year during the time of COVID. Looking back, it was very interesting and I felt that it was valuable to post. In looking back, the words were valuable to those unfortunate students, through no fault of their own, had to endure a non-ideal senior year. The main theme to “Not be a victim” and the points that followed are timeless...

Mary Yana’s Commencement Address to the Class of 2021

     What a year!!  Right?  And you know what?  You all have made the best of it and you are to be commended for that.  However, let’s not focus on that.  It’s not been ideal, but there was no other choice.  I do not like this expression, but, “It is what it is,” Right?

     So, what do you do with this experience?  You have two choices:

     1). You can be a victim and go through life feeling sorry for yourself for having to go through  this all as your last year of high school, missing out on high school sports, school dances, in person learning and all while wearing a mask.

Or

     2). You can look back over this last year and say to yourself, “What can I learn from this unexpected calamity of a year that will make me a better, smarter and a mentally stronger adult?

     I don’t know about you, but I would choose option 2 and I’ll tell you why.

1.  The importance of taking care of your health by washing your hands, getting your sleep, eating right and exercising.  The last year has proven that a healthy body is more likely to survive a hit.  No only COVID-19, but any hit.
2. The importance of Family.  You had the opportunity to spend lots of quality time with your parents and siblings.  I’m sure there were times you may have gotten on one another’s nerves, but I do think when you look back on this,  it will have been time well spent with those you love, before you venture off onto the next chapter in your life.  This is time you will never get back and I’m sure there were many memorable moments and valuable lessons.  
3. The importance of sitting around a dinner table together as a Family.  And wasn’t it nice?  I wrote an entire book on this subject called, It’s a Great Day To...Gather Around a Table. Maybe you learned how to cook, plan a meal and other skills you may not have learned otherwise.
4. Maybe you learned to value things you took for granted prior to the pandemic, like attending a worship service in person, a holiday with grandparents and extended Family, high school sports, actually going to school in person for a full day-five days a week, a family vacation, a school dance, a professional sporting event or concert.  Although some of these experiences you will not get a “re-do” on, those others, you will have a new appreciation for.
5. With the internet & Zoom, the world is much more accessible for you.
6. “Necessity is the mother of invention”...Wouldn’t you have loved to have come up with the idea of those big stickers that instruct people to stay 6 feet apart?
7. Lastly, and probably most importantly, you have seen, most likely, the biggest metamorphosis  our country has ever seen in so many ways and it has cumulated and brought our country to a very delicate tipping point, more so than ever, in my opinion, in our country’s  245 year history.  Everything from history, to morals to financial, to economics to politics is up for grabs now.  It’s not for me or anyone else to tell you how to live your life, However, it is up to YOU to ask yourself, “WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY DO YOU WANT TO LIVE IN?”  “HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO LIVE YOUR  LIFE?”  My advice to you is to remember that there is good and evil in this world.  ALWAYS seek GOOD.  You do this by EDUCATING YOURSELF.  Don’t believe everything you hear.  Check your sources, trust but verify.  Choose your friends wisely and seek the wisdom of your parents, grandparents and those you respect and honor.  No matter what happens in your life or in this world, right is always right and wrong is always wrong.  Hard work ALWAYS pays off. Be willing to pay your dues and take pride in a good days work...

Congratulations Guys and Gals...It’s a Great Day 🎓 

Many of these address, now available on You Tube or those that have been reproduced and expanded in books make for inspiring viewing, listening, reading or gift giving. Learning is life long. Consider letting some of these messages stir your emotions or provoke a youthful heart to make the world a better place, not just for ourselves but for those in our families, communities, country and world.