Exiting Gracefully

Last Sunday marked exactly one year since I graduated from Linfield College. Because this blog is dedicated to my life post-grad, I thought it only fitting to say a few words about this anniversary. Please indulge me. I went to graduation this year to watch a friend leave the "fake" world behind and enter the "real" one (whatever that means). I was sitting in the bleachers I thought about my life 365 days prior. There I was, full of ambition and hope, and ready to leave the over-watered lawns of Linfield and face the next phase of life. All that was left for me to do was A) Figure out what the hell I wanted to do, B) Find a job that allowed me to do that, or the option I am still figuring out the logistics of on my downtime C)Do neither of those two things and live on a beach in Morocco selling friendship bracelets. (I'll note for the record that I would need to learn how to make friendship bracelets before I pursued this business venture). One year out--and I think I've done pretty well with options A & B.

Graduation speeches from students really bum me out. It's hard to say what it is about them exactly, but I think they are a total let down because they never seem to elicit any desire in me to thereafter to go forth and conquer. In theory, it seems like these speeches should wrench your gut because these are your peers! They navigated the road with you for the past four years, took the same tests you did, and are now celebrating the same success you are. Unfortunately, however, it is more likely than not that they fall prey to the manufactured and shallow outlines that have plagued student speech-writiers for years. Usually there is a reference to skipping class (hello Muchas Gracias), parties (hello red keg cups), some top 40 song (hello Vitamin C's "Graduation" circa 2000), or the tried-and-true "Well, we FINALLY made it!" Though I can understand the temptation to use one of these graduation speech cliches, I just can't condone going there. Apologies to the 3 student graduation speakers I have witnessed at my commencements who shall remain nameless in the blogosphere--I'm sure you tried.

Bad/boring speeches aside, graduations are very exciting occasions. It's a day in your life where your family and friends gather to celebrate and give you gifts because you really did accomplish something great. You worked hard, you had success and failure (hopefully more of the former), and you finished. In life it seems that the times when you get gifts or people gather to celebrate, it's based in nothing. On your birthday you get gifts for your ability to continue to breathe, eat, and sleep on a consistent basis. On Christmas you get gifts for...? I'm actually not really sure why people give gifts on Christmas. I think America has something to do with this tradition based in consumerism--but I'm not complaining! Go America.

To all the 2010 graduates out there--congratulations on a job well done! It was and still is difficult to understand that I'm not a student anymore and my "job" isn't to study and fulfill a curriculum. But I think there is a trick to a graceful exit. Whether it be from a social event, a relationship, or a life phase. The ability to let things go with acceptance and appreciation is crucial to happiness. Try to believe that you are always movin' on up and what's to come will be worth the struggle. When you leave school it always important to remember why you went in the first place. For me, it was to learn. I know that if I set goals and challenge myself, my education will never stop (but my 8am classes will). I really do think that education is one of the key factors to success, and I hope that I never stop being a student, as I can learn from everyone and everything around me.

Side Note: Whatever happened to the throwing the caps in the air upon completion of the graduation ceremony?! That was, hands down, the best part of graduation from high school. I have a framed picture of all the caps in the air and I'll never get rid of it.

In summation: Don't use cliches in graduation speeches, keep the throwing-the-caps-in-the-air tradition alive and kickin', and whenever possible try to never be the first to arrive or the last to leave a party (unless of course you are throwing it--then you're just being rude!).