Graduation Speech: Finding the Good Stuff :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

The conclusion of a dozen years of formal education is at cash in ones chips - a just cause for celebration You have fulfilled a quantifiable set of requirements, but what did you really learn? You have present your ability to cope with deadlines, social stress, dispute situations, major life changes, and redden smelly gym socks. Knowledge is the progeny of struggle. Every challenge and perverse situation youve annihilateured has served to strengthen your adaptability and taught you valuable lessons. All of the events that have been shared with friends, educators and parents in the past four years are experiences that have been infused into each individuals maven of self and will continue to influence your future. You have reached the end of an era, save that era will remain forever with you. As you venture out, hopefully instilled with the knowledge you have gained, the future will abound with new-fangled and challenging opportunities. As you begin a new stage of life, (an d the beginning of the end of your life), I want to tell you something someone once told me You know, life is the likes of a phalanger in a trash puke. That was a new one on me Yeah, I said. How? Well, if the possum just sits in the can, itll shnorr on the tidbits on top. But if the can gets shaken and rolled nearly a bit, the possum can get to the really good splash at the bottom. At first it just sounded like one of those You force be redneck if ... cartoons, but then I realized that on that point was a pertinent message underlying the seemingly mundane adage. Dont be contented with the bare minimum - whats given to you, whats comfortable, whats familiar, whats easy - thats just shaving the top. Shake the can You can be like that lazy possum and nibble on the discarded pudding wrappers, soggy Cheetos and wood shavings of yesterday. Or, you can seize the moment and rattle the can around to get at the licorice, fudge, chocolate truffle ice cream and half-eaten cheesecake of la st week. The world holds much(prenominal) more to be experienced than it easily and readily delivers. Often times, coach and social pressure condition us to think and act certain(p) ways. Throughout our daily routines young people are pressured by cabaret to think and act certain ways, to settle neatly into a recess that feels comfortable. Over time, we become accustomed to conforming to preconceived notions of what is expected and normal.