Quotes for High School Commencement Speeches

I just realized that it has been thirty-five years since my high school graduation. If this statement is not a turn off, here are a few thoughts for the high school student preparing for life and a commencement speech.

"The tassel's worth the hassle!" ~Unknown. While the dropout rate in America has slowly declined from fifteen percent in 1972 to the documented rate of nine percent in 2005, the lack of a high school diploma is a precursor to minimum wage jobs and public assistance. To open doors of "advanced" opportunities, the tassel is mandatory!

"Keep Your Head to the Sky" ~Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire and Les Brown's "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." I would have never believed as a high school graduate that I would be citing the words of my then-favorite DJ from radio's WVKO in Columbus, Ohio. But "Miss Mamie Brown's son," Les saw past the confines of those station walls. Today Les Brown is a world-renowned speaker and best selling author. Brown internalized the sentiments of White's words by focusing his mind for a "life lived on purpose."

"Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time." ~ Marian Wright Edelman. The man I have called "Pastor" for twenty years or more has always told his congregation, "Everybody wants to be a leader. Nobody wants to be a servant but somebody has got to serve." Drawing on biblical examples in the west and ancient thinkers in the east, people young and old can draw direction from the servant-leadership model. Chinese sage Lao Tzu wrote about it in the year 600 B. C. :

The greatest leader forgets himself

And attends to the development of others.

Good leaders support excellent workers.

Great leaders support the bottom ten percent.

Great leaders know that

The diamond in the rough

Is always found "in the rough."

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." ~Judy Garland. Okay. It is true that during her lifetime, Judy Garland wrestled with her share of demons. However it is equally true that Garland left cinematic proof of what a first-rate performance looks like. While her lifetime achievements are numerous, it was the passion and joy she brought to her work that continues to hold my attention.

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." ~Vince Lombardi. When you show up, wherever you show up, show up with something other than your warm body. Bring something to the table that will make you attractive and productive to an employer. For most that begins with a positive attitude!

"Be a can-do, will-try person." ~ Marian Wright Edelman. In her book, The Measure of Our Success, author Marian Wright Edelman included her "25 Lessons for Life." I have shared this list with everyone I know. (For the complete list, check out my companion article, "25 Lessons.") This lesson/quote is number eighteen on that list.

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." ~Francis Bacon, Essays, 1625. I am inspired to think after 400 years, this sentiment is still true. I believe life is full of opportunities for the person who is open to possibilities. Proverbs18:16a says that "A man's gift maketh room for him." When it does, the process can reveal a lifetime of work to be completed.

"A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad." ~Theodore Roosevelt. For years I would become angry (and jealous) when I would see first and second generation immigrants doing so well in America. I would question "Why could others embrace the 'American dream' and not me?" I began to address that question when I started my undergrad degree in 1991.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." ~Nelson Henderson. This has been the hardest lesson I have faced. I don't believe I have learned the lesson; I have learned to accept its truth with faith.

Thinking back to my high school graduation, I know I was scared. I was pregnant. I cried during the commencement speech as I tried to imagine what the future would hold for me and my baby. It would take me decades to define and face my fears. Conversely I have worked just as hard to embrace my potential.

Recently while doing a little "movie therapy," I heard the main character recite the words of Marianne Williamson, activist and author. The movie was Akeelah and the Bee.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles," 1992

And regardless of what happens from this day on, Never give up on U! Peace.