Rusty Saber: Speech to grads is valuable advice for all

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Editor's note: While Joe McAdoo vacations in Maui, the Business Journal will run a selection of favorite columns from the past.|ret||ret||tab|

It has become quasitraditional for me to say what I would tell graduates if I were to speak at a graduation commencement. I say "quasi" because I don't necessarily do it every year. It's traditional that I do it when I remember to do it.|ret||ret||tab|

I actually have been the commencement speaker at two high school graduations. As far as I know, the students paid little or no attention to what I said, and then went on with their lives, which is pretty much par for the course for commencement speeches. I don't believe their diplomas were recalled due to faulty construction of commencement remarks.|ret||ret||tab|

As you can see, you aren't dealing with just any old novice at this commencement speaking business. If I were speaking to the Class of 1997, I would be popular because it would be a short speech. This is what I would say:|ret||ret||tab|

(I would begin by putting my audience at ease by telling several jokes that are too hilarious to repeat here; you would laugh so hard that your eyes would fill with tears and you wouldn't be able to read the rest of this column.)|ret||ret||tab|

"Commencement speakers are supposed to pat you on the back one last time and send you off to where you really want to go: the graduation party. I do want to pat you on the back because you have remained in school; you stuck with your education and you are about to hold that diploma over your head as a sign of victory.|ret||ret||tab|

"Your family and the faculty who have guided you for the past 12 years are proud of you. Well done.|ret||ret||tab|

"Before heading to the party, I ask you to give some thought to what comes after the party is over. What are you going to do with the rest of your lives?|ret||ret||tab|

"A big, sometimes wonderful, sometimes not-so-wonderful, world awaits you. Which will be your world will depend on you.|ret||ret||tab|

"Let's talk about the wonderful world; I hope it's the one you want. The need for education has never been as acute as it is at this very moment. Technology is advancing so rapidly that neither you nor I can keep track of it.|ret||ret||tab|

"When I was your age, the ball-point pen and automatic transmission were technical marvels. I learned how to master them, but I still can't program my VCR. I've never met anyone your age who couldn't program a VCR, but the technology age you are entering is about a lot more than mastering a VCR.|ret||ret||tab|

"We are just now entering the onramp of the information highway. Much more is to come. The people who will drive in the fast lane will be the ones with the education to keep up. This means you have a lot more learning ahead.|ret||ret||tab|

"Some of you will go on to college; I hope many of you do that. I spent most of my life helping college students learn to put nouns and verbs together and utter them in ways that make sense to others. I know what marvels higher education can work on young people like you.|ret||ret||tab|

"If you don't go to college, do something else: go to a vocational or technical school. Prepare yourself so that you won't be sidetracked on the information highway. The world is yours, if you claim it. Don't ever stop learning.|ret||ret||tab|

"I really hate to lay this one on you, graduates. My generation hasn't done a very good job of putting an end once and for all to racism, bigotry, poverty, violence, drugs and all the grief they create. Oh, we made a dent in them, but they are still a sad fact of life.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's up to you to finish the job. Find answers; don't settle for compromise. Don't be guilty of putting Band-Aids on society's open wounds. You and other young people just like you attending commencement exercises all over the country tonight can make this a wonderful world for everybody. You can do it. How's that for a pat on the back?|ret||ret||tab|

"Commencement speakers are like a bad cold, they make you uncomfortable for awhile, and they eventually go away. Well, I'm almost ready to go away. Before I do, I want to challenge you to be the best you that you can be.|ret||ret||tab|

"Love life, love people and, in turn, be easy for others to love. Reach up and touch the sky, graduates. Find that wonderful world out there waiting for those who seek it."|ret||ret||tab|

That's what I would say to the Class of 1997.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury College and a Springfield public relations consultant.) |ret||ret||tab|

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