Comments on: Rock Stars Still Sleep in Buses—and Other Graduation Thoughts

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Wed, 26 May 2021 13:00:33 +0000

I went to copy/paste this into my Keep folder in One Note and found I already had! Seems I need to review that folder more often – but proves that it’s still great the second time around!

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 18:56:42 +0000

Useful article! Going to share this with my recent high school grad son to steer him in the right direction.

By: Elaine Murphy

Elaine Murphy — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 18:14:44 +0000

One of the greatest 🙂 non-graduation speeches I’ve ever heard. Highly recommend sharing with all high school graduates as a heads up to use college wisely and/or to be more positively realistic if they are not going on to college. Many thanks. Am sharing this with my FB friends.

By: Julie Mullins

Julie Mullins — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 00:25:03 +0000

Kerry, your post is an answer to some heart felt prayers. I’ve recently been laid off and have a choice to try to retrofit my skills into available internal jobs or leave the company i love to actually do what i love externally. You are correct in saying if you can do what you’re passionate about and get paid for it, there’s nothing better! So, that’s what I’m going to do. Thank you!!

By: Sharon Campbell

Sharon Campbell — Thu, 31 May 2018 16:41:23 +0000

Great article! I never understood why universities spend millions of dollars inviting politicians to commencements to blather and further their careers while studiously ignoring the graduating class. Oh, they will say an opening sentence or two generically acknowledging the occasion and then move on to their agenda! Pathetic waste of tuition money.

By: Paige Smith

Paige Smith — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:43:02 +0000

I think Kerry would be a great commencement speaker! I often feel encouraged and inspired by the stories he shares.

By: Steven Thomas

Steven Thomas — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:30:19 +0000

That is why I am an accountant instead of a park ranger. After first year of college I discovered only 4% of wildlife biologists with masters degrees were getting low paying jobs in state or federal parks. I switched my major after discovering I could work anyplace with an accounting degree. Now I work in Public Health. Love the mission and the work is mostly fun. Just wish this advice was printed in every high school year book. Would have saved my son $100,000 for his education that got him a nice job driving truck to pay the bills. Luckily he enjoys truck driving, because he is going to be paying on student loans for a long time.

By: Stratocaster

Stratocaster — Wed, 30 May 2018 22:51:14 +0000

In June 1973, our commencement speaker was famed Pulitzer-winning NYT columnist James Reston. He opened with a soporific speech discussing the customary platitudes. Then he said, “For these occasions, I always promise myself that I will speak for at least five minutes before talking about Watergate.” He then launched into a searing indictment of political corruption surrounding that scandal which at the conclusion brought the audience to its feet. Sometimes good things come to those who wait. BTW aside from the subject matter, he was a wonderful speaker.

By: Kerry Patterson

Kerry Patterson — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:18:51 +0000

I agree.

By: Nancy S

Nancy S — Wed, 30 May 2018 16:01:10 +0000

Well said! At my college graduation (from a state school with a few thousand graduates), the outside speaker was apparently someone who had just earned his PhD in Fish Biology. If I had paid attention I might’ve learned something about fish, but when he started using terms other than “fin” I was lost…and frankly I don’t even like to eat fish let alone know something about them. Conversely, my brother’s graduation had Gary Larson, the cartoonist of The Far Side (who had graduated from that school). He imparted thoughts on leaving school, where he got his inspiration and drew a few cartoons.That was fun!