I Hope You Fail![1] © 2013 by Wayne Dan Lewis, Sr.

A Message to the Graduating Class of 2013

-4^th in a Series

 

If you are aficionados of Conservative Talk Radio, or politics in general, you know the first time that some version of this statement was made was by the very renowned, Conservative Talk Show Host, Rush Limbaugh.[2]  His actual words, as recorded are available on Youtube: “I hope Obama fails”. Or, “I hope he (Obama) fails”. [3]  These declarative, perhaps unforgettable, and dare I not even suggest, regrettable statements, were made after President Barack Hussein Obama became President of the United States, [4] making him the 1^st African-American to hold that office since the birth of this country.

I chose this message, not to exalt Mr. Limbaugh, or to even promote him, but to make a point about the power of negativism.  I will take the liberty, as even Mr. Limbaugh can appreciate, to use his words, or some variation thereof, out of context, because I too, truly want you, as the Graduating Class of 2013, to fail.

 

Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

~ Dr. Robert Anthony[5]

While Rush Limbaugh may get the greater credit for having made this outrageous statement of “I hope he fails,”  I think that it mattered little that he said it, and more about whom he made reference.  Not only did Rush Limbaugh make this statement about a newly elected president of the United States, but he made it regarding a historical figure, who was a non-white male, or more specifically, the first man of color to hold the presidency of the United States of America.  Now, even if you are prejudice, don’t like Black or Brown people, or racist even, you have to admit, that even for America, electing someone, non-white, in a predominantly White-male dominated country, is historical.  Come on, let’s be fair, and let’s be straight. 

 

So, when the #1 conservative for Republicans, on one of his daily shows (January, 2009), speaks about how he wishes the President of the United States fails, this is no passing comment. As a matter of fact, the statement, or his perspective might be considered historical in itself.  But not really.  The comment, as I will context it here, was a shot over the bow, if you will, at everyone, or at anyone, who was still in awe of the moment of the election of the 1^st Black President of the United States.  But not Rush, he was not going to “lay down” as he accused his Republican colleagues of giving then President-elect Obama a pass, irrespective of the historical aspect of his having been elected.  To his credit, as quiet as it may have been kept, Rush did say, “he is my president”, but he was not going to give President-Elect Obama a thumbs up.  Why? 

 

Rush Limbaugh - I Hope Obama Fails (The Original) Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4xY0G90rHc

 As Rush articulated, it was because of Mr. Obama’s liberal agenda and policies.  Which, for the most part, may have been true.  Rush did indicate that he would show President-elect Obama some leniency.  But, only if he (Obama) adopted Reagan-like policies, where he would cut spending, and keep government out of small businesses. 

As the graduating class of 2013, you will hear all kinds of congratulatory speeches and messages.  You will receive hugs, handshakes, presents, 1000’s of dollars in gifts (maybe, hopefully), a nuuuu car! (In my Price is Right announcer voice) .  Maybe even, you’ll get a brand new house!  As we know, strangers things have happened.  Whatever good can come as a result of your graduating, you will hear it, you will see it, and you feel it.  You will experience it more so as you go on from this day of graduation.

 

Despite how I may have seen Mr. Limbaugh’s perspective as historically offensive to the newly elected, President Obama, I may have misspoken.  As I think about the historical aspect of the fact that America elected its first Black President, I had to think about something else.  “I hope you fail” is in itself a historical landmark in American history.

America has been a country that has all but uttered, “I hope you fail!” to many of the great events that has shaped this nation. 

 

As I think about Rush’s broadcast in January of 2009, I had to think about how often has America actually discouraged events that did not go along with the status quo.  So, I thought I would go back through America’s history, just briefly, and see if “I hope you fail” didn’t just serve as something to discourage, but conversely, to motivate and uplift many of our adventurers, conquerors, and achievers who overcame adversarial conditions in order to make America what it is today.

 If you don’t believe me, then reflect back with me on our American History.   

 For example ( in no set order):

• Wasn’t it Great Britain that said to the 13 Colonies: “I hope you fail,” thus the American Revolutionary War from 1773-1783? [6]
• Wasn’t it the South that said to the North regarding Slavery in America, “I hope you fail”, thus the Civil War from  1863-1865? [7]
•  Somewhere I read about the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1919, ratified in 1920, otherwise, America said to its women citizens, “I hope you fail!”  in getting your right to vote[8]
• For too long, America has said to its women citizens, “I hope you fail!” when it came to being paid equally with her male counterparts.  Thus, President Obama passed an executive order for the Lilly Ledbetter Act. [9]
• Wasn’t it America that said to it’s victims of Hurricane Sandy, “I hope you fail” turning down its citizens whose homes had been destroyed by surges that destroyed their homes, and livelihoods for needed emergency care and recovery dollars in 2012? [10]
• Wasn’t it the State of Louisiana that said “I hope you fail” to State Supreme Court Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson, who although she had met the requirements to be its next Chief Justice,  was told “no”, you can’t be Chief Justice of the LA State Supreme Court. Today, as a Black woman, she is Chief Justice of the LA State Supreme Court ?[11]
• “I hope you fail”- America spoke loudly to its citizens of color, in keeping the doors close to its educational facilities up until the mid-20^th century, but eventually acquiesced in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education;[12]
• America still says “no” to its women citizens: you cannot make decisions over your body, and therefore: “I hope you fail” by its all-or-none approach to abortion regardless of a mother’s health or that her life maybe in danger.[13]
• America is equivocating in her position on gun control, by not demanding background checks[14] in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre of 26 innocent citizens (children and teachers)[15], the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Gifford and her constituents[16], and the various other incidents of gun violence. America is effectively saying “I hope you fail!” in your efforts to prevent further tragedies of gun violence, under the guise of the 2^nd Amendment; [17]
• “I hope you fail!” is what America seemed to have said to its handicapped citizens, that’s why we have the Americans with Disabilities Act[18], where structures once built to prohibit the safe and easy access of those who had limited mobility, are now required to  make physical accommodations. [19]
• “I hope you fail!” is what a Southern Governor presented to the world when he proclaimed “Segregation now, segregation forever”, in hopes of keeping Blacks from integrating into America’s Schools;[20]
• “I hope you fail!” is what America seems to say to those who are Gay, or Lesbian, that you cannot marry your respective partners, but their fight goes on, progress however slight, has been made; [21]
• America seemed to have said: “I hope you fail!” to President Obama for his first term as president, in which a Republican-dominated Congress’ main objective was to make President Obama a one term president; [22]
• “ I hope you fail!” was the fight that President Barack Obama faced in his attempt to pass the Affordable Healthcare Act, or what has been affectionately called Obama Care; [23]
• And finally, to the Graduating Class of 2013, “I hope that each and every one of you fail!” [24] 

 

America has shown that while it will eventually open it doors for its citizens to vote, or that it is willing to make it easier to have access to her structures for those who are handicapped, America is not so willing to put background checks on its purchases of guns.  While America has made reconciliation on its judges and political leaders of color, she still has not made a way to allow a woman to choose what to do with her body.  But, let us not forget, this is the country of success, and prosperity.  This is a country that once enslaved people of color, which is now under the leadership of a man of color.  This is the country that promotes the dream that anything that you want to be, you can achieve it.  But first, even as an American, your road to success will not be without hills and valleys,  it will also be filled with mountains and cliffs.

 

Your road to success will not be without rivers and streams, nor will it be without avalanches and broken dams.  You can achieve the American dream, but it will not be because all of America will roll over and play dead, while you walk your little happy feet into a rose garden of success.  All America is not rolling out the proverbial red carpet just because you have a dream.  There are those who stationed themselves as gatekeepers, ready to bar the door shut, ready to chain the gates closed, or to draw up the bridge to keep you from being successful.  But don’t be fooled by their positions. 

 

While all the signs will be there that they want you to fail, fall short, or cease to achieve your dreams, know that they know, that their efforts are futile.  They don’t know you. Those who would stand between you and your dreams, don’t understand that you are no different from those who fight for gun control, where tragedies like what happened in Sandy Hook ceases to occur.  They don’t know you. That you are no different from those who have fought for the right to vote without unfair poll taxes.  They don’t know you. 

 

That you are no different from a man who, like many before him, fought the good fight, to be the next president of the United States.  The only difference was, that he managed to achieve a goal none before him had ever accomplished, even as he faced the same level of discouragement, the same level of obstacles, the same disdain for what he represented.  He faced “I hope you fail!” well before his election  as many before him, and like those who had gone on before him, he stood up, straightened his back, looked those in the eye who would oppose his American dream to be the President of the United States, and basically said:  

I’ll take that. But I’ll raise you better because, I am no quitter. I will succeed.  Today, he is President Barack Hussein Obama, the 44^th President of the United States.

 

It is inevitable some defeat will enter even the most victorious life.  The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated…it is finished when it surrenders.

 Ben Stein[25]

 

As I conclude, Mr. Limbaugh does what no one else has done in America.  He is virtually an American Icon, having accomplished building an empire all of his own, because he is committed to his Conservative Values.  But we can’t afford to adopt his attitude towards those who work hard to achieve their American dreams.  If Conservative values are that you work hard for what you want, then Mr. Obama had achieved the American dream, from a Conservative standpoint.  Perhaps Mr. Obama achieved the wrong American Dream, with his liberal leanings.  However we may view this blip in American History between a radio commentator and the leader of the free world, the point remains,  “I hope you fail” will be an integral part of American life.  No matter what level of success any of us may achieve, someone is waiting on the sidelines, not wishing us the best that life has to offer, but instead hoping that we fall on our faces.

 

To you, the graduating class of 2013, I send this message, loud and clear:  “I hope you fail!”  But whether you hear it from me, or from your friends, colleagues, or from your adversaries, your answer should always be:  “I’ve come too far to fail.”  “I’ve come too far to quit.”   Be reminded, you the graduating class of 2013, that the America that you grew up in, never would have survived if those who pursued their dreams, surrendered to failure, or taunts such as “I hope you fail”. 

 

I wanted to be the first to tell you this less than encouraging phrase only because I think it has a reverse effect on those of you who hear it.  “I hope you fail” is the equivalent of a dare.  “I dare you to succeed”.  “I dare you to win.”  Or, “I dare you to be the very best that you can be.”  Do you see the similarity?  “I hope you fail”/ “I dare you to win”?  I don’t know if Mr. Limbaugh will ever admit to it, but I think that he was encouraging Mr. Obama.  I know that’s how I would have taken it.  And, that’s how I hope you will take my message to you today.  “I hope you fail!”  I hope that you will leave here today, inspired, uplifted, and empowered more than ever to take your piece of paper, and not just SIT ON IT![26]  I hope that you will reflect on that part of American History that has survived the instances that I have shared here, as well as the many other things that shape our American lives, good, bad, or indifferent.  I hope that you will go out and dare to make a difference, and not be discouraged by someone, or anyone, who believes that their best days, as well as yours, are behind us.  That’s the defeatist attitude that graduates of this class cannot, and must not adopt.  So leave here today, having accepted a dare in the form of “I hope you fail”, and prepare to achieve great things not only for you, but your families and for your communities.  Leave here today and never look back.  Never give up, and never quit on your dreams to be the very best that you can be.

 

Congratulations to you, the Graduating class of 2013.

 

---

[1] Rush Limbaugh- http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2009/01/16/limbaugh_i_hope_obama_fails

[2] Rush Limbaugh- http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2010/11/04/i_hope_he_fails_reverberates

[3] Rush Limbaugh- http://www.wicasta.com/rush-limbaugh-on-obama-i-hope-he-fails/

[4] Barack Obama, Voted President of the United States- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_election_victory_speech,_2008

[5]  Dr. Robert Anthony quote: http://www.inspirationalspark.com/inspirational-phrases.html

[6] American Revolutionary War- http://www.classbrain.com/artholiday/publish/americas-wars-fact-sheet.shtml

[7] American Civil War- http://www.classbrain.com/artholiday/publish/americas-wars-fact-sheet.shtml

[8] 19^th Amendment to the Constitution- http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/nineteentham.htm

[9]  Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009

[10] FEMA denied Hurricane Sandy victims aid in recovery- http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-denied-aid-fema-bureaucracy-article-1.1211634

[11] Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/justice-in-louisiana.html

[12] Brown vs the Board of Education- http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html

[13] Abortion in America- http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/a/abortion.htm

[14] Gun Control Background Checks fail passage 2013- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/background-checks-bill_n_3103341.html

[15] Sandy Hook Shootings- http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html

[16] Congresswoman Gabby Gifford shot by gunman- http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/22176775/2013/05/06/gabrielle-giffords-receives-honor-calls-out-congress

[17] 2^nd Amendment- http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

[18] Mass Shootings in America- http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map?page=2

[19] AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, AS AMENDED- http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm

[20] Segregation now, Segregation forever-George Wallace, AL Governor- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace%27s_1963_Inaugural_Address

 

[21] Gay and Lesbian Marriage- http://www.glad.org/

[22] President Obama-“One Term President”- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/when-did-mcconnell-say-he-wanted-to-make-obama-a-one-term-president/2012/09/24/79fd5cd8-0696-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html

[23] Affordable Healthcare Act- http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/full.html

[24] Graduating Class of 2013: “I Hope You Fail” © 2013 by Wayne Dan Lewis, Sr.- http://thecovetedcommandment.blogspot.com/

[25] Ben Stein quote on failure- http://thinkexist.com/quotations/defeat/

[26] SIT ON IT! © 2013 by Wayne D. Lewis, Sr.  http://thecovetedcommandment.blogspot.com/2013/04/to-graudating-class-of-2013-sit-on-it.html

TO THE GRAUDATING CLASS OF 2013- CAREER OR MOGUL? © 2013 by Wayne Dan Lewis, Sr

other postings by Wayne Dan Lewis Sr.:
http://thecovetedcommandment.blogspot.com/ 

 

Congratulations to the Graduating Class or 2013.  I can’t say enough of how proud I am to be apart of this tremendous achievement by those of you who have made outstanding sacrifices and who, having gained this level of achievement, are ready to take on the world.  I’ll be brief as I ask you to ponder a very important question.  That question is simply this:  What has your education prepared you to do, going forward?   Before you answer, let me be clear about what why I pose this seemingly trite question.

http://www.inc.com/ss/10-great-entrepreneurs-talk-about-their-start-days#8

The national unemployment rate, at last check was about 7.6% here in the United States.  If you haven’t already done so, by the time you graduate and begin your earnest attempt at finding a job, all of you, along with the many thousands of graduates across the country, could be bumping that number up to 8.%, or 8.5%.  Your attempts at finding a job, as many of you may know, will be coupled with many others who are putting their best foot forward to show employers that they are the best qualified for the position or positions that many of you will be applying.  Good luck, it is a tough world out there.  But that’s okay, because your college career has prepared you for your employment career.  Or has it? 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5519861/ns/business-small_business/t/historys-greatest-entrepreneurs/

This may not be a good time to bring this up, but, what did your college career prepare you do?  If your answer is to get a job, I am going to out on a limb here and say that you are wrong.  In my experience, having attended various colleges, and universities, one of the things that higher education rarely do is prepare you for to get a job.  I understand that that is what is often discussed, and employers are the ones who often show up at career fairs, but I believe that colleges and universities do a lot more than prepare us for jobs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/promises-promises-obamas-mixed-economic-074614065.html;_ylt=AwrNUbIE3X1RjioAqDfQtDMD

I commend you if today you are graduating and receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree, but that does not entitle you to a job.  I am proud of you if you are receiving a Master’s Degree in Arts, but that does not entitle you to a job.  I want to believe that somewhere there has been a misinterpretation of what is supposed to happen from this point on in all of our lives when graduating from an institution of higher education.  I believe that on the way to building empires, employers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries noticed the quality of education that was going on throughout our various communities.  These men and women of vision observed how colleges and universities turned out successful and well-rounded citizens, as well as educated graduates. 

Where else could these luminaries find the best of what was available from within many of our communities?  They either planted them themselves, or provided enough enticement for those who were preparing to step up into the world, that the alternatives were very difficult to overlook.  But there was a problem.

The problem in hiring new graduates became apparently worse when it was determined that a job was easier to get than to build an empire, or to create an industry.  Getting a job, has become the habit of many, it has become the ultimate intent of more graduates, and thus, the industries and empires that once were the norm on American soil, has become rare. 

 

There are fewer Hoover’s that produced vacuum cleaners; there are fewer GM’s and Chrysler’s, and of course Fords.  There are fewer Ma Bell’s, and Oil Producing companies.  We may say that many of these companies have moved overseas, and we maybe correct, but where are their replacements?  Who are those among you today, who will say:

“I will build my clothing factory here, in the United States”;

“I will build my furniture company, right here in the United States”, or,

“I will build my toy factory, right here in the United States”? 

Wherever those companies can be, you can be too.   You can change that, and you can begin today.

You see, these great visionaries of these current and former empires don’t need everyone who graduates from colleges or universities, they only need a few.  The number of you here today are more than most companies need to employ.  But you are prepared than just to be an employee.  You are extremely well prepared for the best job that any employer could ever offer, but all of you are not going to get employed.  So, what should you do?  Should you panic?

 

Suggestion: You should just sit.  You should just wait.  You should just sit and wait.  You should also send out 100’s and 100’s of resumes, hoping that someone will hire you.  And, if no one calls you in the 1^st six months after you get your degrees, you can apply for another degree, at another university, or, on line. 

Or what you should do, if you are not among the newly hired post graduates, is apply for low-paying jobs, until a better job comes along.  And perhaps, after 3 or 4 years go by, that job that you thought you were the best for, well, it will probably go towards someone else in next year’s graduating class, of 2014.  Or, you can go for something else.  Today!  You can go for the golden ring:  become the mogul that every college and university prepares you to become.

http://www.success.com/articles/182-50-greatest-entrepreneurs-of-all-time

I understand if you think that you are not mentally prepared to begin a new industry. But I couldn’t disagree with you more.  I understand that if you were only ready to go out and start looking for a job.  And for some of you, you already have a job, so you are set for life, maybe.  But there are those of you who are going to go out literally and look for a job.  You are going go on every job board, internet site; you are going to tap into every network; attend every job fair there is.  You are going to fire off resumes, set appointments, and get your rejection letters. Not because you are not qualified; not because you aren’t a perfect fit.  But because, you are mogul material.  You are industry-building material.  But, if you are not careful, before you know it, you’ll move right back into your parent’s homes, or just change your direction and try to regroup, thinking that there are no jobs for you.  And you know what?  You are right!  There are no jobs for you, because you are not meant to be the employee, who only fills the 9-5, office-cube oriented, paper pushing role that many employers set up for newly graduated professionals. You are meant to sign the checks, not just receive them weekly, or every two weeks.  You are meant to be the big Kahuna, the Big Cheese, the man/woman in charge.  You have the education, you have the talent, and, you have what it takes.

 

Many of you, who have jobs, you too will be challenged on your new jobs.  You will be pressed for your great ideas in order to make sure that your employer becomes successful.  But what about you?  What about your success? What about your ideas, to make you successful?  Is that all that your education has done?  Has it only prepared you for someone else’s job?  Has not your education prepared you to work from sun up to sun down, even if you have to work harder, for less pay, because that is the risk you are willing to take, to build your own empire?

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/10/how-to-start-a-sole-proprietorship.html

Don’t be upset if you find that the offer of money is good, or even great. It is supposed to be good, it’s supposed to be great.  Why do you think that is?  It is supposed to keep you from building the next competitive empire to the very employer who knows a good leader when he or she sees one.  

Don’t be upset with yourself if you find that you feel an urge to open your own business, to employ your own people, to sell your own product, to acquire your own customers.  Don’t be upset with yourself when you find out that making less money is no big deal when it compares to running your own business.  Why should you be upset?  You shouldn’t. Because that’s what you were educated to do.  I don’t want you to turn on any employers, but weigh out very strongly, that you may be the next Henry Ford (Ford Motors), Oprah Winfrey (OWN); Bill Gates, Steve Jobs (Apple Computers), Conrad Hilton (Hilton Hotels), Harland Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken); or anyone else who has decided that their education was one of the best things to ever happened to them, and that because of their education, they were meant to open their own doors, and harvest from the very universities that has prepared them, to be the great leaders that they are.

You are encouraged however, to seek the proper advice from your respective consultants, financial advisors, or entrepreneurial advisors, or CPA’s before investing in any activity, as your results may vary.  But, if I am right, as I hardly am, according to my wife, I believe that your education as of today, makes you mogul material.  If I am right, as I believe I could be, my wife notwithstanding, I believe that each of you are following a pattern of behavior that will either hold you back, or delay you, or forever keep you from achieving your greatest ability-to open your own business, if all that you do is pursue a job.   Your challenge, should you decide to accept it, is to build your own empire.  That is what you have been prepared to do: to be your own boss, to create jobs, and to ensure that there is another industry on the horizon that causes stocks to rise on the stock markets; to create an industry that is shaped by the wisdom of an open-minded Board of Directors, who don’t tie your hands, but helps you to launch the greatest business plan ever.

So today, as you receive your degrees, know that if you are only applying for jobs, you maybe short-changing yourselves.  Take this coveted document, your degree, and use it the way it was truly intended, to build your empire, to be the big cheese, to run your own company, to be the Industry leader that you are very well capable of being. Whether your dream is to build a technical empire, you can do it.  If your dream is to build an automotive empire, you can do it.  If your dreams include medical, transportation, defense, or retail, you are just as capable of being the CEO as you are the employee.  Your education, has prepared you.  For you not to put this education to its fullest and best use, will make your education less than valuable.   It will always be up to you to decide  whether to settle for a job, or to pursue the greats heights of being tomorrow’s next multi-millionaire mogul.  I know you will choose wisely.    Congratulations to all of you, the Graduating Class of 2013.  I wish you all the very best that life has to offer, may you always be the great leaders that you are.

 

 

 

 

TO THE GRAUDATING CLASS OF 2013- SIT ON IT! © 2013 BY Wayne Dan Lewis, Sr.

ABSTRACT: In this 3rd year of messages to graduating classes, Wayne Lewis extends to all Graduates an opportunity to think about this "piece of paper" and what we really can do with it.  With such links as the Bee Movie Trailer, starring Jerry Seinfeld, the Soundtrack of "We Are the World" with Micheal Jackson and Others, and "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack, all of our graduates are to be commended and encourage to take some bold steps in the coming days, as they will face some phenomenal challenges.  We are proud of you and wish you the very best that life has to offer. 

 

Congratulations to so many of you who have persevered to this great milestone in your lives.  I am sure I speak for many of you when I say, “HALLELUJAH!” Of course, today, many of you in this graduating class will not be listening to this message.  But I don’t blame you.  You are too busy Tweeting[1], Skyping[2], Googling[3], Instagraming[4], FACEBOOKING[5], and if nothing else, take photos of you and your classmates at this very exciting time in your life.  I am not mad you and I don’t blame you.  This is your day.  You’ve earned it, and no one, including the likes of me, is going to stand in your way.    Today, you will receive your diplomas/degrees.  Can we get another HALLELUJAH!?

Bee Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jnMdWESoVg

 

With all the important things that you will have to think about going forward, I thought to myself, what would be an important question to ask you that would hopefully make you ponder, and perhaps, never forget today?  Not because of me, the speaker, but today-your day of graduation.  I know that you are waiting for the illustrious moment when you will receive this coveted document, this specially laden draft that will no doubt read, words to this effect:

I Hope You Dance (song) Lee Ann Womack:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmBSGlXqC4Q

In recognition of the successful completion of the requisites and on nomination of this university, on this day of May, 2013, by virtue of their authority, hereby confers upon  your name the Bachelor of Science, etc,

With all the honors, rights, and priviledges thereto pertaining.

Given on this day of May, in the 2013. [6]

 

Strangely, enough, I can’t remember those words without reading them over and over again.  The words that seem to carry the most weigh however, are these:

 

With all the honors, rights, and privileges thereto pertaining. 

 

We are the World Micheal Jackson and Others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2W4-0qUdHY

These words convey a tremendous amount of inspiration.  These words send a message to the world, that the bearer of this document, has met all of the requirements necessary to reach this point in their lives, and that on this day, the bearer of this instrument is hereby declared to be the recipient of their High School Diploma; of their Bachelor’s Degree; of their Master’s Degree; of their Doctorate Degree; of their Jurist Doctorate Degree, of their Certification in their respective field, or even, their Honorary Doctorate.  On this day, you are receiving one of the most distinguished honors in education, recognition for having completed your courses, and responsibilities to go forward in your lives.  Congratulations!  Now, what are you going to do with this highly coveted symbol of academic achievement?  May I make a suggestion?  Wait for it----------- Wait for it----------  Heeeeeere   it  issssssss:

 

 

SIT ON IT![7]

 

For those of you who may have a fond recollection of the Fonz from Happy Days[8], the intent here is literal, not figuratively, or in anyway derogatory.  Nor, is this in anyway an opportunity to disrespect your achievements as graduates, but I think it is only fair to add this suggestion to the many ways in which many of you will eventually handle, or mishandle, this great instrument that will be conferred upon you.  Why would I suggest you SIT ON IT?  Maybe I am generalizing, but for the most part, where do most of us put our Diplomas/Degrees?  We either frame them on the shelf where it often gets pushed to the back of the graduation pictures, the wedding pictures, the newborn babies (aren’t they cute?), or, or, we put our hard-earned documents in a drawer, only to be boxed and shipped to a storage facility, until, or unless we get an office to post it for all the world to see. 

 

Otherwise, this document, which so many of us have crammed the night before a big test for, or that some of us, who shall remain nameless, looked on our neighbor’s paper and copied not only their answers but their names, are now willing to take this valuable instrument and put it not only to the back of our shelves, or in the back of our drawers (not funny), but also to the back of our minds.  Forget the fact that we were forced by Mrs. Hard-hearted Birch in 5^th grade to learn our 2 and 3 times tables over and over again.  Let’s not forget about Coach Wash-his-mouth-out-with-soap Burns who made us take first-aid when we wanted to play basketball during gym.  And who could forget Ms. Fail-you-or-die-trying Miller math teacher who seemed to have no life because she always opened the class with those dreaded 4 words: “Take out a pen and paper for a short quiz”?  Okay, I wasn’t good at math, thus the hatred for quizzes.  So, when you think about what you are going to do with your Diplomas/Degrees, maybe you are justified in hiding your Diplomas/Degrees.  Maybe they bring back bad memories.  My bad for calling them back up. 

 

But in all seriousness, I ask that you think about something else, given the hard work that you have put into what so few people are privileged to do- and that is to sit where you are today.  It was no small feat, and I don’t want you to forget it.  Think about the following:

 

The Boston Bombing[9]

Hurricane Isaac [10]

Hurricane Sandy [11]

The Newtown Shooting,  [12]

Gun Control [13]

The Sequester [14]

The Fertilizer Explosion in West, Texas Kevin Williams Sanders, victim [15]

The Tsunami in Japan  [16]

The Hadiya Pendleton, victim, 15 year-old student killed after the inauguration [17]

9-11 and Lt. Michale Scott Lamana, victim B.R. LA [18]

Hurricane Katrina- Mantelean Barker, survivor, [19]

The First Black President of the United States, Barrack Hussein Obama [20]

 

Perhaps, and maybe, not one of these events, or any similar events affect you knowingly, or have affected you, directly.  But they are events that have happened in my lifetime.  Some of them hit close to home, directly (Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Isaac), some of these events hit close to home spiritually (The Boston Bombing, Hurricane Sandy, The Newtown Shooting, The Tsunami in Japan, the killing of the 15 year-old student in Chicago), others hit home from a daily standpoint (The Sequester, 9-11, The First Black man to become President of the United States).  What role my diplomas/degrees played in any of these events, I can’t say with any certainty. 

 

But I believe strongly, that by having a diploma/degree, I am able to have a better perspective of circumstances as outlined above.  I believe that there are many among us, who, having met the objectives of acquiring today’s instrument, are more ready to address circumstances such as those mentioned above.  I believe that many who, like you today, who have already received this prestigious honor,  their perspectives are broad enough to see the big picture, whereby they are able to put together goals and objectives to help guide their communities in the event of the situations as these.

From a Distance-Better Midler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASbmV_8RkGI

 

I believe that by this instrument, for which you shall receive today, that you will be able to exercise a perspective narrow enough to empathize, uplift and encourage those whose very lives maybe impacted by these types of tragedies, that you maybe able to inspire your family, friends and community in the face of tragedy.   With this instrument, with this conveyance, that you will not be changed from the loving and caring persons that you have always been, but instead, augmented by those things which have shaped the loving and caring people that you are. That if nothing else, this instrument does not compel you to believe that you better than anyone else, but that you are better for accepted the challenges that resulted in it being awarded to you.

 

 With this instrument, that is bestowed upon you today, I hope that you will take it, treasure it, and appreciate it for all that it symbolizes, whether you frame it and put on a shelf, hang it upon a wall, put it in your desk and file it away, or….. 

 

Wait for it------------:     SIT ON IT!

 

If you choose to sit on it, use your degree very well, as a cushion at your dinner table;  use it well in your den as a cushion in your favorite chair.  If you choose to sit on this instrument of achievement, use it to sit on by placing it in your cars with their heated leather seats for those long cold drives through Chicago. Or you can use this summary of achievement to block the sun off of you in the rear bedroom in the evenings while you sleep away the day on those hot summer evenings.

 

As I close, let nothing that you do from this day forth ever keep you from becoming the outstanding person that you have always been, or will ever come to be. 

The Wind Beneath My Wings by Celine Dion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrvodSr3JmA

Congratulations to your parents, families and friends.  Congratulations to your teachers, and professors for having brought you through these trying times that our world continues to present to us all.  Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2013, and may you all forever be successful.  Best wishes. 

 

---

[1] Twitter.com  https://twitter.com/

[2]  Skype.com  http://www.skype.com/en/

[3] Google.com  https://www.google.com/

[4] Instagram.com   http://instagram.com/#

[5] Facebook.com   https://www.facebook.com/ 

[6] http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7meaW31RNSoAL.5XNyoA?p=bachelorette+of+science&fr=ush-mailn&fr2=piv-web

 

[7] Sit On It- http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sit+on+it

[8] Happy Days and the Fonz- http://quotes.lucywho.com/happy-days-quotes-t687439.html

[9] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/boston-bombing-victim-in-iconic-photo-helped-identify-attackers.html

[10] http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/28/us/tropical-storm-isaac/index.html

[11] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/hurricane-sandy-2012

[12] http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/newtown-connecticut-school-shooting.htm

[13] http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Senators-seek-new-path-to-gun-control-4467623.php

[14] http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57581739/flight-delay-spat-renews-sequester-war/

[15] http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-plant-explosion-injures-200-levels-homes-businesses/story?id=18984131

[16] http://tsunamis.com/tsunami-pictures.html

[17] http://blog.blacknews.com/2013/01/15-year-old-girl-killed-in-chicago.html

[18]http://news.yahoo.com/photos/9-11-the-25-most-powerful-photos-1315611364-slideshow/

[19] http://www.nola.com/katrina/

[20] http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/United_States_Presidential_Election_of_2008_(SIADD)