Cum Laude Speech

Below is the text of the speech I delivered October 25, 2007, at the induction ceremony for the Cum Laude Society at the school where I teach. As with everything on this site, you may quote from it with appropriate citation.

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Cum Laude Speech – October 25, 2007

Note of thanks…

The late Kurt Vonnegut said, “We are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”

I’m sure none of you will prove Vonnegut true as second semester seniors, but some of your peers might.

But with all due respect to Vonnegut and my good friend, who is a big fan Vonnegut, I disagree. There’s much more to our purpose here on Earth.

In all likelihood for the first time in your life, you are about to embark on a journey in which you are in almost total control of your day-to-day life. Until now, the majority of your waking hours have been dictated by your parents, the state of New York, the school board, your teachers, your coaches, and even your friends.

As you move on from high school, probably to college, your life is now your own to direct. Which classes will you take? Will you take mostly morning or afternoon classes? What will be your major? What will you do with the enormous amount of unscheduled time you will have every week? Perhaps most importantly for your parents, how often will you come home?

Across the country, however, your generation is struggling with this newfound independence, freedom, and responsibility. You are too used to having your lives controlled by others and being insulated from the consequences of their mistakes. You find it difficult to make decisions, to solve problems, to find your way.

Lots of experts on child development, education, and psychology have written about this phenomenon. But the solution, at least in part, may be as simple as having clear goals.

A Harvard Business School study reportedly asked Harvard graduates if they had goals and whether they had written them down. Twenty years later they interviewed the same group. The 3% of graduates who had written down their goals were making 10 times more than the average of all the other graduates…and 98% of all the wealth resided with that same 3%!

A former student of mine recently gave me a book to read: The Extreme Future, by James Canton. Canton is a global futurist, someone who studies trends and tries to predict the future for companies and governments. He often asks his clients, “What do you envision your company will look like in 2020?” After stares of disbelief, his clients are able to figure out their vision and goals, and then plan backward to develop plans and strategies for achieving those goals. Teachers also are encouraged to plan that way – figure out what you want your students to know and be able to do and then figure out how best to get them there.

It makes sense, right? After all, if you don’t know what your destination is, how can you begin to figure out what’s the best route for getting there?

Which leads me to two questions I want you to answer: What do you envision America and the world will look like in 2020? And, perhaps more importantly, what do you envision you will look like in 2020?

In 2020, many if not most of you will be turning 30. For many of us farther along on life’s journey, turning 30 was a big deal. In some ways, it’s been the true beginning of adulthood for people of my generation – the era in which we took on more responsibilities like marriage and parenthood, settled into our careers, and bought real estate. Our parents retired, our social lives mellowed a bit, we took fewer risks.

But that was us. In many ways, you are so very different from us. You seem to be more capable intellectually than we were at the same age. You have more distractions and more demands on your time. And you have grown up in a world dramatically different from the one we grew up in. Yours is the world of the internet. Of Tom Friedman’s “flat” world. Of 9/11 and al Qaeda. Of Iraq. Of global warming. Of stem cell research and nanotechnology. Of change that Canton says will be “blinding, comprehensive in scope, and will touch every aspect of your life.”

Some of that sounds scary. But hopefully some of it also sounds exciting! The new world you will live in is one of challenges and opportunities. And of infinite possibilities – possibilities you will create through the sheer force of your thoughts and beliefs.

So whom do you want to be in 2020? Let’s assume that you want to be someone who is happy and healthy in 2020. What will it take for you to be happy and healthy? What kind of values do you want to have? Where do you want to live? What do you want to be doing professionally? How do you want to spend your free time? What kind of people do you want to be surrounded by?

Canton and others suggest that having this vision, being able to imagine this future you, will help you make better decisions along the way and set you up for inevitable success. And the beauty of this process is that, as you travel along this journey, this vision can and probably should evolve. Like your first choice for a college major, you can and probably will change your mind along the way.

But without this vision, you will be like a captain without a compass, a map, or even a destination.

Now don’t be afraid to think big. Be audacious. Accept no limits on what that future you will look like. It’s not your job to place limits on your vision – it’s your job to imagine a future with maximum joy and love.

So now you’ve got your vision of yourself in 2020 – right? But as a social studies teacher - and someone who cares passionately about my country and my world – I have some kind of moral obligation to remind us of the other question I asked: What do you envision America and the world will look like in 2020? But what I’m really asking you to think about and imagine is what kind of America and world will you help create by 2020?

We live in a day and age in which, more than ever before, one person can make a difference. I’ve seen it and lived it myself, but the power you will have in your lifetime to affect and influence the course of events will dwarf that of previous generations. And given the fact that you will have been given a tremendous gift – the gift of a great education – you have an obligation to do what you can do to forge a future that will make you proud in 2020 and beyond. And your work starts today with the creation of your vision for that future world and the role you will play in creating it.

Today, America and the world around us are full of uncertainty and real and potential threats. But America and the world of 2020 also are, like the future you, full of infinite possibilities! By 2020, we could be well on the way to energy self-sufficiency, stopping or reversing the tide of global warming, eradicating AIDS and malaria in Africa, and eliminating poverty in America.

So which challenges and opportunities do you want America and the world to address in your lifetime? Which values do you want us to live up to? Which great new frontier in medicine, technology, culture, or even politics do you want us to explore?

Once you have your vision, you really have a simple task every day – stay focused. Think about your vision for yourself and the world around you. Give it texture and depth. Focus on how awesome you will feel in 12 short years when your dreams and desires have been realized – and it’s time to create new ones. Enjoy the progress you make every day, however incremental it might be, in moving toward the realization of that vision.

The future truly is in your hands.

Now Vonnegut argued that "True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country."

Well, that might have been true for Vonnegut or even me, but I think you all will be relieved that you and your peers will be running the country. So enjoy the freedom you have to create that future. Ignore the hecklers and naysayers. Surround yourself with people who will love and encourage you, not hold you back or tear you down. And remember to dream big.

I could not be more excited for you – and I can’t wait to receive what will probably be an email – or whatever we use for instant communication at that point - from you in 2020 letting me know what your vision for 2040 will be!

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