They Do Matter!

I think I am approaching 100+ commencement exercises dating back to my brother's high school graduation (since he was older I had to attend).  The most recent was our youngest son's high school graduation.  In between these have been my own (4), spouse (1) children (let's see - 4 high school, 2 undergraduate, 1 graduate school and at least 2 more undergraduate forthcoming) the remainder are those I attended in professional capacities.  I cannot begin to count the number of commencement speeches I have heard given several had multiple speakers. 

I recall two of our children's speakers, Connie Chung and David Gregory - both celebrities and impressive.  I know they said great things, profound, and certainly memorable.  Except, I don’t remember now what they said but I know they were good.

Truth is, we listen to these well-intended words of reflection, inspiration, and etc. in the moment quickly forgetting leaving little or no lasting impact on the graduates let alone the audience.  Yet the tradition continues and will continue as long as there are graduations irrespective of the milestone achieved.  Unless …

I appreciate in many communities who stream live, broadcast or utilize other technologies to capture these speeches so that they can be reviewed or referenced in ways never before possible.  Recently at my son’s commencement both the student speaker as well as commencement speaker had salient points not only for the graduates but also for each of us in the audience.  I hope to track them down so that what at the moment struck me as an important thought or call to action can be revisited.  

In all sincerity, I don't want to rely on my memory for recalling just what was said because I simply had too many other things to be thinking about - like post commencement activities as one example or that one day each of my children will be gainfully employed and living under someone else’s roof.  I can only trust that someone will download to You Tube, Facebook or other social medial outlets the thoughts, comments, and observations of speakers and their addresses.

A quick word for our commencement speakers past, present, or future - your words do matter.  The impact, however, is seldom immediate.  Listeners albeit graduates, parents, siblings, friends and guests each need time to reflect.  Reflection does not happen in the moment.  It requires time, focus, and most certainly a desire to ponder, consider, and examine ones' life as informed by the thoughts, comments, and observation embedded in a commencement address.

On the lighter side, commencement addresses often have humorous outright funny stories, jokes, and the like.  Though many of these are contextual, they nonetheless get easily lost or forgotten if not available to revisit, review or reflect upon. 

Again, this all to say that what is said at commencement matters and I for one appreciate greatly the time, energy, and effort speakers expend creating a meaningful speech.  I just want the opportunity to revisit, review, and reflect - the great news is that we can.  We just need to make sure that we are intentional to stream, record, post, and make accessible to all who have an interest -

I close with my one of my favorite commencement quotes - George Bernard Shaw "You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

So, "why not" indeed – revisit, review, and reflect – those speeches do matter!