I am working on writing up some thoughts for a nephew about to graduate and go off into the world. I definitely have lots of thoughts, but given this forum is a nice gathering of men who have done well in life and lived some adventures, I am interested in advice and pearls of wisdom from this group of men and the handful of women here too.
One of the true highlights of my life was the honor to address the faculty, parents, and graduating class of my high school alma mater...45 years after my own graduation there. It was a bucket list headliner for a very long time, but in honesty, my motive was not pure. I was.. at the very best...a poor student. I failed the 9th grade epically. Zero credits for the first half, and expelled the 2nd half because a teacher hit me ( the 60's) and I hit him back.
How in the world they promoted me to Sophomore will forever remain a mystery. Sophomore year...brand new school, brand new start.
I was told by my counselor and most all teachers that I was wasting my time and theirs as I would not be able to graduate with my peers and friends. Impossible.
I would need to go to summer school every summer for 3 years, take 3 classes instead of 2...no shop, PE, etc...all solids...Math, History, English.
All clearly said I didn't have it in me.
Looking back, motivation comes in many forms, and the fact that no one believed in me (for good reason) lit a raging fire.
I dedicated myself to the hard work, took those extra classes and walked the stage with my classmates in 1969.
Graduated with a B+ average and was offered a partial scholarship to 2 colleges to play baseball.
I wanted desperately to address the guys/girls at their graduation who were like me...not the class President or Honor Society kids.
My address was 15-20 minutes long, but condensed, went something like this.
"My sincere congratulations to each and every graduating Senior. Well done. Your hard work has finally paid off.
But, now the real work starts, and I offer this as your introduction to the real world. None of you are special. Regardless of what you have been told by your parents, friends and teachers. Some of you barely made this celebration, and some never broke a sweat. Some of you have been told you could be President, or the Pope, or "anything you want to be". Others have been convinced that they'll never amount to anything.
This week tens of thousands of High Schools across this Country are doing exactly what we are doing right now. Graduating 100's of thousands of kids.
None of them...not one...is special.
But, you all have a clean slate.every single one of you.
You want to be special?
Prove it.
Start today."