Ten Things

Recently I was asked to speak at Norphlet Elementary's Sixth Grade Graduation. Here's how it went...

Address to Norphlet 6th Grade Graduation; May 28, 2013:

Let me begin by saying what an honor it is to speak to you today. To be honest with you, I don’t remember ever having a sixth grade graduation, but I do remember my high school graduation. Here’s what I remember about it: some old geezer stood up and rattled on for what seemed like forever, and I don’t remember a thing he said. Then I went to college and at that graduation, we had another old geezer stand up and rattle on for about 45 minutes and I can’t remember what he said either. And so, when I was asked to do this, I was excited, but in all honesty I was also filled with dread, because I couldn’t help but think, “Oh man, I’m going to be THAT GUY. That guy who spoke at your sixth grade graduation, that guy who none of you will remember what I’ve said by the time you finish high school. In fact, you probably won’t remember before you get to the parking lot when we’re done here. If my math is correct, you were born around the year 2000. For us “old geezers” we can remember what the world was like back then. We can remember the St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever played. We remember what hanging chads were in the presidential election. That was the year that the final original Peanuts cartoon strip by Charles Shultz was published. That was the year of the “Y2K” scare. To make it more relevant to our soon to be graduates who are here today; it was also the year that Willow Smith, the young entertainer who is the daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Willow Shields of The Hunger Games were born.

The reason I’m telling you all this, is because you may not remember what I say today, but throughout life, what we often remember, are events and occasions. For instance there are occasions of joy, or sadness, occasions of remembrance, and reflection. And believe it or not, today marks one of those types of occasions. This is a time in your life that you’ll never forget. You may not know it now, but your parents do. And I would bet that over the next few days your parents are going to be doing some of that remembering and reflecting. Remembering the day you were born, or your first loose tooth, or maybe your first day of school. They might be remembering how their hair began to show a bit more white or grey as you get older.

Yeah, you’re helping to cause that! But here are ten things I hope you do remember as you get older and continue with school…

1. Play a sport….it will teach you to win gracefully and lose honorably.
2. Learn to play an instrument…
3. Take pride in your appearance.
4. Respect does matter, especially to those who are older than you. Saying things like No ma’am and Yes sir count.
5. Peer pressure is real. Consider very carefully who you will follow.
6. Be kind…the Golden Rule will never fail you.
7. Don’t be a bully…those you hurt now might one day be your boss.
8. Have a sense of humor…learn to laugh at yourself.
9. Don’t be afraid to give credit to others…humility is, regrettably, a dying virtue.
10. Treat your education seriously…a high school diploma is important and it’s not too early to think about college. Proverbs says “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

And if I might add more thought, don’t be in too big a hurry to grow up. It’s overrated.