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| | --- Reply above this line to comment on this post --- Class of 2012, the world is your oyster, follow your dreams, oh the places you will go, and every motivational commencement speech cliché in between. Graduation day is filled with goodbyes, new beginnings, and a whole bucket full of question marks. A rousing speech by a notable person will probably offer an emotional high on your last day as a student, but don't allow yourself to get too wrapped up in their carefully crafted words. Former commencement speech writer Charles Wheelan advises that you digest a commencement speaker's words with a heaping side dish of reality. Wheelan shares the ten things your commencement speaker won't tell you in a bookmark-worthy Wall Street Journal essay that offers relevant tidbits to both recent grads and those that tossed their graduation hat years ago. A sampling: Your parents don't want what is best for you. They want what is good for you, which isn't always the same thing. There is a natural instinct to protect our children from risk and discomfort, and therefore to urge safe choices. Theodore Roosevelt—soldier, explorer, president—once remarked, "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Great quote, but I am willing to bet that Teddy's mother wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer. Some of your worst days lie ahead. Graduation is a happy day. But my job is to tell you that if you are going to do anything worthwhile, you will face periods of grinding self-doubt and failure. Be prepared to work through them. I'll spare you my personal details, other than to say that one year after college graduation I had no job, less than $500 in assets, and I was living with an elderly retired couple. The only difference between when I graduated and today is that now no one can afford to retire. Full list at WSJ. Tons of life improvement tips in one place. Photo credit: Fotolia | | | |
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