But last week when the bus dropped him off, out stepped this intelligent, articulate, thoughtful young man who grows a beard in less time than it takes his father to shave. What kind of growth ray do they have at that school?!

As we sat there on Sunday and I watched my son sitting among 160 of the closest friends he’ll ever know, waiting anxiously for that sheepskin while teacher and administrators offered congratulatory remarks and the top scholars in the class delivered earnest speeches about friendship and hard work and the future, I thought back to all of the graduations I’ve attended since I picked up my own brontosaurus skin back in the ancient days. What would I tell these kids if I had a chance to speak, I wondered?

“DON’T DO IT! GO BACK! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT! IT REALLY IS A MEAN, OLD WORLD OUT HERE AND THERE ARE NO MORE SUMMERS OFF!”

Seriously, though, we know you can’t go backward. You can’t stand still. We can’t freeze time. So as you come to the end of the common road you’ve traveled – in some cases for 13 or 14 years, counting pre-school – you need to think about the road ahead – the one you will travel without your companions. And when you do, think about yellow bricks, because the best analogy I can give you for life comes from Dorothy’s journey to see “The Wizard of Oz.”
Along the way, she found companions and qualities that provide all we really need to succeed, to find a happy life, to find your way back home.

Brains. You’re smart people. Think about that. That diploma you pick up today symbolizes all the knowledge you’ve gained in your school career. Think of all the skills you’ve learned, like algebra. Ok, maybe not algebra. We are sending you out of here today with everything you need to make a worthwhile life, even if you don’t go to college or continue your formal education. You know how to read. You know how to write, you can do basic math and you know, somewhat, how government works. You should be able to balance a checkbook, hold a job, pay your bills.

Heart. Regardless of all the book-smarts you’ll take with you, the things you really need are those things you learned in kindergarten. Kindness, friendship, sharing and caring. Don’t be afraid to care. Caring makes life worth living and the losses you might suffer make the victories so much sweeter. You’re losing the bonds you’ve known most of your life but you will make new, stronger ones that will stay with you much, much longer than these short 13 years.

Bravery. Be confident. Don’t be afraid to take an occasional detour on the “Road of Life.” Take an unknown exit once in a while to see the “world’s biggest ball of string” or “the paper-mache capital of the world.” Let your imagination run away with you and enjoy the trip while you’re gone. Dare to dream. Dreamers are the people who really change the world.

And as you travel your individual road, think about the traits instilled in you over the past 18 years by your parents, educators, clergy, aunts, uncles, neighbors and all of the other alleged adults in your life. There may come a time when you question one of those detours, when you wonder if it really is the best road to take. Then, think back. That’s when you have to let your heart overrule your mind. You’ll know if it is right because it will feel right. If it doesn’t feel right, if you wouldn’t want anyone else to know you did it, chances are it’s not the right road for you.

The other thing I strongly encourage you to do is take time to play. Life is not all about hard work. Smell the roses, to use an old cliché. Watch your own kids get on that bus and watch them get off. Enjoy your time with family, friends and others. We don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.
OK, that’s it. Get the heck out of here. Your schooling is done, now your education can begin.

Oh, but before you go, I have one more poignant, deep thought to leave you with:
I, personally, have never used algebra.

Joe McDermott is a veteran newspaper reporter in eastern Pennsylvania now working as a freelance writer and media relations consultant. For more on Joe, go to www.writerjoe.com.

If that’s not bad enough, often the things we long for most let us down once we’ve acquired them. That new syllabus, a new publication, or even a long-awaited promotion may fail to satisfy, and like children, we’re tempted to set them aside, certain that only something else in the future will meet our deepest needs, interests or expectations.

I’m not suggesting the future is bunk.  After all, outcome exists at the intersection of preparation and opportunity. If you merely take events as they come with no forward planning, life slips by, leaving you regretting the past and longing for lost opportunities.  Indeed, our vocation as educators is to prepare students for tomorrow’s challenges: he who would be fulfilled constantly must adapt to the future, to paraphrase the Buddha.  This is especially apposite in light of today’s rapid -fire technological and ideological changes.  Having said that, there’s something else we educators should be doing for our students.  It’s teaching them that the greatest gift we have is the gift of the present.  All else is an abstraction.

If the key to the future is the present, we must say to our students take time now to read the books you say you want to read.  Make your mistakes today if you want to avoid them tomorrow.

What application is there for a busy teacher?  Just this: find time to teach, supervise graduate students, and pursue your research projects, but always make time to listen to any student or colleague that comes to your office for a chat. Make this the moment for the people who need you, for tomorrow may be too late.  Above all, never be too busy to pause and wonder.

We are more than mere muscle and synapses. We have souls.  Martin Buber, André Neher, Dorothy L. Sayers, Jürgen Moltmann, Sr. Wendy Beckett, Alister McGrath and Fr. Richard John Neuhaus are but a few distinguished scholars who have made a conscious decision to create a regular time for the numinous in the midst of their busy schedules.  In so doing, they tapped a previously unidentified reservoir which gave them wisdom, peace and a desire to help others in need.  So make time to cultivate your spiritual life now not later.

While that which makes us truly happy may well exist some time in the future, don’t imagine it’s the only tense in which opportunity lies; rich potential exists now.  The worst blunder you can make is to be so distracted by your tomorrows that you miss your todays.   Remember, no time is ever wasted for teachers who recognize that the present is really the obverse of the future.

Is having “friends with benefits” a bad idea for college students? This week’s guest columnist thinks so — and suggests campus counseling centers aren’t doing enough to address the problem.

Do you have a view you’d like to express on a Higher Ed topic? We’d like to hear your opinion. Click here for submission guidelines.

]]> http://www.higheredmorning.com/the-problem-with-friends-with-benefits-2/feed 0 http://www.higheredmorning.com/professors-cry-%e2%80%98we-get-no-respect%e2%80%99 http://www.higheredmorning.com/professors-cry-%e2%80%98we-get-no-respect%e2%80%99#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:55:55 +0000 admin http://www.higheredmorning.com/?p=3251 Professors cry: ‘We get no respect’

Are today’s professors apathetic clock-watching lounge lizards? Or are they dedicated professionals who feel progressively undervalued with each passing year?

Take a look at what this week’s guest columnist – a professor – has to say.

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Do you have a view you’d like to express on a Higher Ed topic? We’d like to hear your opinion. Click here for submission guidelines.

]]> http://www.higheredmorning.com/professors-cry-%e2%80%98we-get-no-respect%e2%80%99/feed 0 http://www.higheredmorning.com/making-the-case-for-modest http://www.higheredmorning.com/making-the-case-for-modest#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:37:56 +0000 Frank Diamond http://www.higheredmorning.com/?p=2865 I’m OK, you’re OK – let’s fornicate

Many female college students today feel there’s something wrong with them if they’re unwilling to casually jump into bed with someone. Has the concept of the ‘liberated woman’ gone too far?

This week’s guest columnist thinks it has – and agrees with those who say it’s time for a renewed call to modesty.

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