Once again, the time has come for a wonderful rite of passage known as high school graduation. My sincere word of congratulations is given to each person who will be receiving a high school diploma this year. You have stayed in school and reached this wonderful milestone in your life. To the parents who have worked hard to assure your child would finish high school, I also extend a word of congratulations. As parents, grandparents, other family members and close friends join in watching the ceremony marking your high school graduation, please understand that this night, for many of you, is your first public opportunity to show your respect and appreciation for the school system, teachers, family and friends who have stood with you during these long years of reaching to the point for you to obtain this diploma. As an observer of these ceremonies for the last several years, I find it interesting that occasionally the students are more respectful than some members of the crowd watching the event. I understand the raw emotion of seeing someone you love reach to this point of achievement in life. I understand the individual desire to celebrate and to show how proud one is of the achievement of a loved one. As time has progressed in these years, it seems the indication of lack of respect for authority or for general public respect continues on a slide downward with public displays of emotion spilling over into uncontrolled anarchy. While it might seem like a great idea at the time, public display of lack of discipline or ones inability to show proper respect for the rules of public conduct communicate much more than pride in a person’s academic achievement. Enjoy the moment and make good memories to be shared within the family for many years in the future.
To the graduating seniors, realize that while an important rite of passage for you, this is not a time to stop learning. You now move into a different phase of learning as you journey into the working world. For many of you, there have been jobs after school or during the summers. The next step is even a bigger move as you will be called upon to continue your education in a place of higher learning, or go immediately into the working world. With the tools entrusted in you during the last thirteen years, you should be prepared to continue learning. The person who determines to stop learning is the person who will never achieve to a higher level in life. For some of you it could be true that formal education will end but that does not mean you need to stop learning. You are on the front edge of a learning opportunity, not the final lap of an educational continuum. Enjoy the night and cherish the memories but determine that you will launch into life with a desire to learn as much as you can. The best sage advice I was ever given came from a person much my elder in age. As a young person, I had asked from this older gentleman the secret to his success in his field of endeavor. His reply was: “I have never stopped learning.” From his advanced age, one would have thought his reply would have been different. As a young person, I was not impressed with his quick reply but as I have aged, there have been many times when I remembered those words and saw in them the powerful words of wisdom they are.
It is easy to think that from this point forward one can control what they deal with in life. It is also easy to think that no one can be forced to learn what they don’t want to learn. While these statements could be proven to be true, would you allow me the privilege to pass along to you these same words of wisdom that were given to me? I know how easy it is for some to think they have nothing to learn from someone advanced in age far above their eighteen or so years on this earth. Some people might even suggest it is rather arrogant of me to suggest that I have advice to share with the enlightened graduates of 2013. I know it is easy to dismiss what I share with you today. Heed the words given to me as a young man. “Never stop learning.”
Ray Newman
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