Thursday, June 25, 2009

"Tis the Season



Graduations!

For the last few weeks, tons of kids have been going through commencements. Last weekend, out to dinner with friends, we ran into a huge graduation party at a cool Middle Eastern restaurant, where the families were celebrating with a feast and belly dancers. There’s just so much to be proud of when you achieve your academic goals – or for some, a sense of relief that you made it and will walk with your classmates.

Congratulations to all you guys who are or have someone in your family graduating!


Today’s high school graduates (and college, too) are coming out of school at a crazy time in our collective history. Things are so different for you guys – social networking has boomed, the economy has tanked, all over the world things are in upheaval. Things are very uncertain, and yet I find that most graduating kids I’ve talked to are very hopeful about the future.

Remember that Baz Luhrman song, “Everyone’s Free to Wear Sunscreen” that digested all the best parts of a graduation speech? It was set to a great beat and was full of advice like: depend on yourself, dance in your living room, don’t think that you’re ugly, value your youth. I think my piece of advice would be something like, “be yourself,” which everyone hears but few can do.

What advice would you give graduates if you were a commencement speaker this year?


Hugs,

Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
Never Cry Werewolf ~ HarperTeen Sept. 2009
The Clearing~ HMH April 2010

5 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

Hey, Heather! Thinking back on my own graduations, I would say it means getting a clean slate. You are now free to move on to try and do the things you've only thought of. However, new schools and new jobs also mean new people, so you can't necessarily count on old friends to "have your back" or your previous accomplishments to "set the tone" so remember to put your best foot forward!

Cara King said...

"You may find that you can abuse your body and it seems to have no repercussions. Don't believe it. All the damage you do will be stored up and will suddenly arrive one day like a big birthday present, and the rest of your life you'll be unable to eat spicy food/lift anything heavy/remember your phone number."

:-)

TinaFerraro said...

Cara--LOL! Thanks for that. Who wrote it?

TinaFerraro said...

P.S. Oh, I was assuming you were quoting someone because you put it in quotes. But maybe not?

Cara King said...

No, Tina, I just it in quotes because it's the speech I would give, verbatim... Glad you like it!