Learn English John G. Roberts Jr. I wish you BAD LUCK with BIG subtitles
now around the country today at colleges
high schools middle schools commencement
speakers are standing before impatient
graduates and they are almost always
saying the same things they will say
that today is a commencement exercise it
is a beginning not an end you should
look forward and I think that is true
enough however I think if you’re going
to look forward to figure out where
you’re going it’s good to know where
it’s been and to look back as well and I
think if you look back to your first
afternoon here at cardigan perhaps
you’ll recall that you were lonely
perhaps you will recall that you were a
little scared a little anxious and now
look at you you are surrounded by
friends that you call brothers and you
are confident and facing the next step
in your education it is worth trying to
think why that is so and when you do I
think you may appreciate that it was
because of the support of your
classmates in the classroom on the
athletic field and in the dorms and as
far as the confidence goes I think you
will appreciate that it is not because
you succeeded at everything you did but
because with the help of your friends
you are not afraid to fail and if you
did fail you got up and tried again and
if you failed again you got up and try
it again
and if you failed again it might be time
to think about doing something else
it was not just success but not being
afraid to fail that brought you to this
point now the commencement speakers will
typically also wish you good luck and
extend good wishes to you I will not do
that and I’ll tell you why from time to
time in the years to come
I hope you will be treated unfairly so
that you will come to know the value of
justice I hope that you will suffer
betrayal because that will teach you the
importance of loyalty sorry to say but I
hope you will be lonely from time to
time so that you don’t take friends for
granted I wish you bad luck again from
time to time so that you will be
conscious of the role of chance in life
and understand that your success is not
completely deserved and that the failure
of others is not completely deserved
either and when you lose as you will
from time to time I hope every now and
then your opponent will bloat over your
failure it is a way for you to
understand the importance of
sportsmanship I hope you’ll be ignored
so you know the importance of listening
to others and I hope you will have just
enough pain to learn compassion whether
I wish these things or not they’re going
to happen and whether you you benefit
from them or not will depend upon your
ability to see the message in your
misfortunes now commencement speakers
are also expected to give some advice
they give grand advice and they give
some useful tips
the most common grand advice they give
is for you to be yourself it is an odd
piece of advice to give people dressed
identically
what you should and should be yourself
but you should understand what that
means unless you are perfect it does not
mean don’t make any changes this certain
sense you should not be yourself you
should try to become something better
people say be yourself because they want
you to resist the impulse to conform to
what others want you to be but you can’t
be yourself if you don’t learn who you
are and you can’t learn who you are
unless you think about it the Greek
philosopher Socrates said the unexamined
life is not worth living and while just
do it may be a good model for some
things it’s not a good model when it’s
trying to figure out how to live your
life that is before you and one
important clue to living a good life is
to not to try to live the good life the
best way to lose the values that are
central to who you are is frankly not to
think about them at all so that’s the
deep advice now some tips as you get
ready to go to your new school over the
last couple of years I’ve gotten to know
many of you young men pretty well and I
know you are good guys but you are also
privileged young men and if you weren’t
privileged when you came here you’re
privileged now because you have been
here my advice is don’t act like it when
you get to your new school walk up and
introduce yourself to the person who is
raking the leaves shoveling the snow or
emptying the trash learn their name and
call them by their name during your time
at the school another piece of advice
when you pass by people you don’t
recognize on the walks smile look them
in the eye and say hello the worst thing
that will happen is that you will become
known and is the young man who smiles
and says hello
and that is not a bad thing to start
with you’ve been in a school with just
voice most of you will be going to a
school with girls I have no advice for
you
the last bit of advice I’ll give you is
very simple but I think it could make a
big difference in your life once a week
you should write a note to someone not
an email a note on a piece of paper it
will take you exactly ten minutes talk
to an adult let them tell you what a
stamp is and you can put the stamp on
the envelope again ten minutes once a
week I will help you right now
I will dictate to you the first note you
should write it will say dear fill in
the name of the teacher at cardigan
Mountain School say I have started at
this new school we are reading blank in
English football or soccer practice is
hard but I’m enjoying it
thank you for teaching me put it in an
envelope put a stamp on it and send it
it will mean a great deal to people who
for reasons most of us cannot
contemplate have dedicated themselves to
teaching middle school boys as I said
that will take you exactly ten minutes a
week by the end of the school year you
will have sent notes to forty people
forty people will feel a little more
special because you did and they will
think you are very special because of
what you did now what else is going to
carry that dividend during your time at
school
enough advice I would like to end by
reading some important lyrics I cited
the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier
these lyrics are from the great American
philosopher Bob Dylan
they’re almost fifty years old he wrote
them for his son Jesse who he was
missing while he was on tour they list
the hopes that a parent might have for a
son and for a daughter
there are also good goals for a son and
a daughter the wishes are beautiful
they’re timeless they’re universal
they’re good and true except for one
it is the wish that gives the song its
title and its refrain that wish is a
parent’s lament it’s not a good wish so
these are the lyrics from Forever Young
by Bob Dylan may God bless you and keep
you always may your wishes all come true
may you always do for others and let
others do for you may you build a ladder
to the Stars and climb on every rung and
may you stay forever young may you grow
up to be righteous may you grow up to be
true may you always know the truth and
see the light surrounding you may you
always be courageous stand upright and
be strong and may you stay forever young
may your hands always be busy may your
feet always be Swift now you have a
strong foundation when the winds of
changes shift may your heart always be
joyful may your song always be sung and
may you stay forever young thank you