Friday, May 20, 2011

What do you tell a new college graduate? by gimleteye

Last night I invited my son and a group of his friends to dinner. They are on the verge of graduating from a liberal arts college with assorted, impressive majors. None, scientists or engineers. They are at the end of a four year voyage; a time for work and play, a time to form lasting friendships and to become adults. They are relieved, excited, and no longer anticipating another year of college in a place that values the acquisition of knowledge above all else. Perhaps this demarcation is artificial; but graduation marks a passage of becoming, to being.

What do you tell these graduates, in America, today? The standard ceremony includes speechification by one dignitary or another. The boundless future, opportunity without horizons, great responsibility, and the pursuit of freedom and happiness. Send them out with a hug and a push.

I am not sure how to advise them. Find a relative: go work for county or city government? A friend texted me from an airplane on a runway in Beijing yesterday. Thirty five years ago he and I worked together in China for an American business. On my first visit in 1976, its airport had just opened. It was an empty cavern. There were no passengers. No business. Parked on the tarmac next to the gate where I arrived was China's first Boeing 727, wrapped in canvas because the Chinese had not decided how to use it, or, who to fly it. The taxi drivers at night drove with their lights off, convinced by doing so  they were conserving energy. China was a nation that could scarcely afford to import gasoline.

Before my father passed away, he reminded me his generation arrived in carts and wagons drawn by mules and horses, passed through the horrors of war threatening to break everything apart, yet assembled the skills to put a man on the moon. Having learned to manipulate digital circuits, our generations made the world smaller and larger at the same time. Smaller, because the flow of information and technologies knitted economic interdependence in new, startling ways. Larger, because the same flow of information increased our inventions exponentially. Smaller, because our advancements paradoxically collide with ancient hostilities. Larger, because the mysteries of creation are now tools that belong to us.

This flowering of information and technology has not necessarily advanced the cause of liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. We created very powerful capacities but we do not use them to our best purposes. To do so requires judgment, common sense and compassion. It also requires standards of excellence unhindered by defensiveness and base motives.

On filing out from dorm rooms and shared bathrooms that may need a pressure cleaning to be fit for the next arrivals, our graduates will step into a bright, uncertain future. It will be a little like leaving home. Where will these last bags be unpacked? I hope my son and his friends go forth with excitement, flush with confidence and the liberty to find their way. I wish, too, that the world of experience we inherited, and the place we left our marks, provided more clearly marked opportunities.

What do you tell a college graduate? Challenge yourselves to do better. It is your turn now.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

very good Alan. Imagine raising pre-teens in this environment - What does their future look like? Constant turmoil and upheaval?

Fellow Liberal Arts Grad said...

I also graduated from a small liberal arts college a few years ago. I decided to go right into graduate school after watching friends struggle to find work. A good friend of mine - a smart, bilingual man with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree with a focus in international relations - searched in vain for work and eventually took a bartending position. Instead of struggling to find a decent job, I earned a Master's degree. I think it was a far better use of my two years, and I was able to get a great job when I finished graduate school. That would be my advise to your son.

Jswcat said...

Great insightful post.

Geniusofdespair said...

I am off to a college graduation myself... for my niece. I have learned I can't tell this damn kid anything. This is a knows everything child. If your son will listen to you, the one thing I would tell him is to vote.

I feel like too many in this current crop might not have abandoned the country but they surely abandoned Florida with their apathy. I think your sons have learned civic responsibility...they will not disappoint our generation. Congratulations!

The Straw Buyer said...

Brilliant post. Congrats to you and your son.

Anonymous said...

The preteens inherit a world with bad spelling and grammar.

Anonymous said...

If you’re Vanessa Britto you would tell them to vote for Xavier Suarez

Jose said...

Elaine deValle is obsessed with Brito and will post anywhere like here, where it doesn't belong. Get over her Elaine!

Gimleteye said...

Thanks for the comments, esp. on the bad spelling and grammer. I wrote it very quickly and went back with a finer tooth comb. Hopefully got most of the knots out. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing-congratulations!

We can lead them to the water, but we can't make 'em drink...

Anonymous said...

I'd tell them not to go to work for the government (any level of government), or your neighbors will be outside with torches and pitchforks.

I swear, the child molester down the street is treated better by my neighbors than I am.

Anonymous said...

Listen to your Elder's, work hard, be humble... Remain optimistic...

Anonymous said...

I told my daughter "Stay in Vancouver. The future in Florida is pretty bleak."

Anonymous said...

They need to travel and see the world. The federal government is a good place to go for that. Once they have seen some of the world, their education is complete and they can do what they want. Without traveling, their worldview is limited and they don't understand the playing field that they are operating in.