ENJOY would like to share a post by our Social Media and eCommerce Manager, Stephanie Edwards (author of 101 Things a College Girl Should Know and 101 Things a College Guy Should Know). Below is the commencement address that she would write if she were asked to write one that she hopes will be incorrectly attributed to Mary Schmich as Kurt Vonnegut.
To the Class of 2012:
Congratulations. You did it.
I know that any advice that you receive in these dewy, salad days of your pending adulthood is probably just wasted on you--like your youth[1].
That is ok. You are supposed to be young and carefree. Besides, when you are saddled with $1,234,756 in student loan debt in a few years, you won't even be able to buy a clue. But I will give you two little nuggets of wisdom (for free):
1) Be kind.
Yep, it is that simple. Bad things rarely, if ever, come from being kind."Kind", according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, is defined as "having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature".When in doubt, choose to be kind. If being kind is not an option, wait until it is.
2) Don't put anything on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LiveJournal[2], Tumblr, Flickr, Instagram, etc. that you wouldn't want plastered on the side of a bus.
Like the bus traveling at 35 MPH down a street, things posted on social media sites fly by and are not seen by everyone in real time. But like that bus, postings on social media eventually arrive at a bus stop. And then imagine that your grandmother is at that bus stop, waiting for the bus to take her to the Jewel. And she's all like "Look, that's my granddaughter/grandson on the side of that bus and, oh my..".
You get the picture. Be discreet. And if you can't be discreet, don't post it.
That's pretty much it. You'll have to figure the rest out as you go. Good luck, be kind and, please, wear sunscreen.
[1] Paraphrased from Mary Schmich's "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" published in the Chicago Tribune in her column on June 1, 1997. In her introduction to the column, she described it as the commencement speech she would give if she were asked to give one. The column soon became the subject of an urban legend, in which it was alleged to be an MIT commencement speech given by author Kurt Vonnegut in that same year (in truth, MIT's commencement speaker that year was Kofi Annan).
Despite a follow-up article by Schmich on August 3, 1997, in which she referred to the "lawless swamp of cyberspace" that had made her and Kurt Vonnegut "one", by 1999 the falsely attributed story was widespread.
Schmich published a short gift book adaption of the essay, Wear Sunscreen: A Primer for Real Life, in 1998. A tenth anniversary edition was published in 2008 by Andrews McMeel.
[2] Ask your older sister or brother.
Despite a follow-up article by Schmich on August 3, 1997, in which she referred to the "lawless swamp of cyberspace" that had made her and Kurt Vonnegut "one", by 1999 the falsely attributed story was widespread.
Schmich published a short gift book adaption of the essay, Wear Sunscreen: A Primer for Real Life, in 1998. A tenth anniversary edition was published in 2008 by Andrews McMeel.
[2] Ask your older sister or brother.
