Best Graduation Speech Ever

My son has finished his Associates Degree in Computer Programming and graduates this weekend. We're so proud! Even more exciting, he's already interviewing with several companies in the area.

Speaking of college, if your son or grandson is about ready to graduate high school and hasn't settled on a higher education institution yet, he could do worse than Deep Springs College up in High Desert Country in California.

There is no cash tuition to attend Deep Springs, as long as you're willing to bale hay, milk cows, slaughter hogs, and help make the ranch work in between classes along with 25 other male students. It's a pretty select group, and a pretty unique concept, and most of the students "graduate" after two years and go on to other prestigious colleges around the country.

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BEST GRADUATION SPEECH EVER
"Wear Sunscreen" by Mary Schmich

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. And you, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

[By Mary Schmich, *NOT* Kurt Vonnegut]

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And it's another really busy weekend for yours truly. June is just chock full of 'em. But keep the faith, remember to peek in at my blog on the weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.

Mark

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WEB SITE of the WEEK: As the film industry is gearing up for all of its summer blockbuster releases, you can view a few good animated short movies at http://goodexperience.com/blog/archives/010330.php. The artistic shorts were so good, in fact, that all of them won Oscars. Some, however, may not contain entirely family-friendly material. You have been warned.

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Mark's Musings is a Habeas-certified spam free mailer. Subscribe, view past issues in the Archives, or help defray publishing costs at my web site. To contact Mark, click here. To contact your mother, probably best to send a letter. You can forward or reprint "Mark's Musings" freely but please keep the credits attached. Keeping the credits attached is incredibly easy. Even you can do it. Original material and commentary © 2008 by Mark Raymond. Even this paragraph of fine print. I update this blog with a copy of this post daily, and extra thoughts, videos, and the occasional other bit of stuff and nonsense on the weekends. My personal mission statement is John 3:30. Watch the blog this weekend for my essay on the seven stages of fatigue. I'm in Stage 5.

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WORDS for YOUR WEEKEND: "There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day." (Alexander Woollcott)