Congratulations to the Marquette University Class of 2009. For a mere $120,000 you are now the proud owner of one sheet of paper that says you may know a little something about something. I say that not to diminish the value of your education, but because if I have learned one thing during my time at Marquette, it is that the difference this school expects you to become has little to do with what you pursue as a career and has even less to do with how well you learned the academic material the university has foisted upon you.
As you leave Marquette, you enter a world that is radically different from the one that existed when you entered this school. In 2005 this country was cresting an unprecedented economic boom and losing a war in Iraq. Now, in 2009, we are winning a war in Iraq and watching an unprecedented economic collapse. Ironically, the one thing that is the same now as in May of 2005 is the cost of a barrel of oil.
In the midst of all these changes in the past few years, one tradition that has not changed is the annual scramble among universities to find the most highly regarded commencement speaker available to come and impart some wisdom, in the hopes that one day, you too may be called upon to address the next generation. Sometimes these speeches are little more than the awkward reminiscences of accomplished individuals; other times these addresses can offer valuable lessons and insights regarding life, success and what you can do to make that difference in the world. It also sets an artificial standard of what it means to graduate from that university. Don’t worry, if you aren’t as funny as Chris Farley, as athletically gifted as Dwyane Wade or as notorious as Senator McCarthy, you are not necessarily a failure.
A commencement speech should serve as a capstone to what you have learned over the past several years of your life. If your college experience has been anything like mine, much of that learning took place outside the classroom through your friendships, experiences and changing perceptions of the world of which we are all a part. These experiences constitute some of the most important learning that occurs in college, and now that this stage of your education is complete it is important to remember that it was only by going out and getting involved, by taking part in the larger campus and city communities around us that those experiences were gained, those friendships formed and those perceptions changed. It is only by continuing to put yourselves out there that you will persist in adding new friends, experiences and understandings to your lives. This is all the more true if you choose to get off the beaten path, try new things and drive the back roads whenever possible.
The past few years have hopefully equipped you to begin a career or continue your education as well as having helped you to find something that you passionately want to do. The difference that Marquette often references is not made on basketball courts by all-stars, during stand-up comedy routines on Saturday Night Live or by earning as much money as you possibly can. Rather, it is made by everyday people who are dedicated to what they do; people who serve at the tip of the spear or as boots on the ground in places of great need, which are inherently also places of great opportunity. There is an old saying that it is not what you say but rather how you say it that matters. Likewise, it is not what you do after graduation but how you do it that makes the difference. Being “boots on the ground” does not mandate that you go to some distant war zone to practice medicine or traipse through the jungles of Brazil to educate Amazon natives; it simply means continuing to put yourself in position to contribute in whatever field you work towards some greater good.
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As Marquette sends another class out into a world that continues to evolve and rapidly change, it is indeed sending forth students who collectively represent much of the proverbial “promise of a generation.” The undergraduate portion of your education is complete, but your lifelong education is just beginning and it has no syllabus to follow – you make it up as you go along, learning from mistakes and successes and occasionally remembering the lessons learned while here at MU. You are now completely free to do whatever you would like to do. Don’t forget to have fun while throughout the rest of your lives – after all, you can only do this once – and always remember that having a degree does not make you educated.
I will leave the flowery speeches and lofty expressions of congratulations to Dick Enberg, the real 2009 commencement speaker; I am sure his observations and life experiences will present far more fascinating insights than my own rambling editorial based on my somewhat typical collegiate career.
But let me offer one more congratulations to the graduates. You’ve succeeded in getting to this point in your lives and now is the time to go find other worlds to explore; just make it a point to remember the lessons you are taking away from Marquette that really matter. And, if you happen to have a few extra minutes every now and again, you really should drive those back roads.
Best of luck 2009, congratulations!
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