Buddy the elf once said “then I traveled through the seven levels of the Candy Cane Forest, past the sea of swirly, twirly gumdrops, and then, I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel!”
There’s almost no better way to articulate the journey you’re about to begin because it’s impossible to anticipate all the details of what’s coming; no matter how well you have plotted out your future.
As a senior in high school I said I’d never be a teacher, I was done with Alaska, and I even thought fly fishing was unnecessarily difficult, maybe even stupid. I spent summers working in Washington D.C. then a decade in California until I walked through the door at Kayhi—a teacher who loves to fly fish.
So here are a few thoughts to close out this phase of your education and to start your journey.
Number 1: Serve
“Find your passion” is nuanced advice. You don’t want to spend your 20s inactive, hoping a passion will be delivered like an Amazon package and expect that your life will be forever easy and fun once the universe fulfills your order. It won’t. A passion must be provoked by meeting people and having rich experiences that help you develop the skills needed to take advantage of interesting opportunities. You’re not behind if you don’t know what you want to do. But you won’t find it without searching.
It will also look different than what you expect. You’ll likely discover it’s less about a thing and more about how you live. If you work for KPU you’re not passionate about repairing downed power lines in a storm at 2 a.m.. Firefighters, law enforcement and military service members aren’t passionate about responding to people in distress or dangerous situations. Nurses aren’t passionate about treating sick kids. Commercial fishermen aren’t passionate about 30 knot winds.
What they feel is a sense of satisfaction and purpose for doing a job that serves the community. There is real meaning in their lives. They, and many others, take pride in being essential parts of our society.
Make an impact with your talents and skills. Add value to your community wherever that ends up being.
Number 2: Care about what people think
The right people of course. Your creative, productive allies will help you cultivate strengths and address weaknesses. If you spend your time with people who have vision, who value work, and embody the values you want to have, you will absorb those traits.
It’s tempting to collaborate with enablers but don’t. Do what you’re capable of doing, not the minimum required. Whether that’s in your astronomy class, apprenticeship or while fixing the AC on a house in Phoenix, know that how you do this work is a reflection of your character and it’s the best way to new opportunities because character and reputation echo in the community.
You aren’t perfect. You won’t be perfect. But your friends, your family, your colleagues, your future spouse, your future kids, will need you to be dependable. So be ready when you’re called upon.
Most of you have seen the James Clear quote in my classroom, “Everything you do is a vote for the type of person you want to be.”
Number 3: Learn
Half of college graduates find careers outside of their major. That doesn’t mean they chose the wrong major. It means they reached for something, found something else, learned a new skill set, and started to make their living. Your most precious resources are your individuality, your creativity, and your unique way of seeing the world. New skills will amplify your strongest attributes and provide fulfilling opportunities.
Finally, don’t ever, no matter what, let AI or strangers on social media dictate your life, tell you who you are, or what’s real. Social media and AI flatten character and level the texture that makes you special. Look around. This is real. ChatGPT can’t comprehend the frustration of typing essays on a chromebook that doesn’t hold power or have a working H key. Claude can only guess at what it feels like to have palm sweat, back sweat, or both.
Large Language Models can’t properly articulate how much it meant to us teachers to have you show up on time and care; to do your best even if it wasn’t your strongest subject; especially 1st and 5th hour on sunny days.
Artificial intelligence doesn't have the soul required to truly explain the feeling your family will have when you turn your tassel and throw your cap; or when you leave home to make it on your own.
Those are the details, the good, the bad and the inbetween, that make life precious so avoid looking at a screen for answers or meaning.
Hit the road and visit your buddy in Texas. Turn off your phone and get a strawberry Celsius boba lotus chai with a friend. Don’t google why Georgia is called the Peach State, find a farmer's market and figure it out for yourself.
Congratulations, thank you for everything you gave to this school and this community.
Later, see ya.
I’m not a graduating high school senior, but I kinda wish I was after reading this one. Great read, Jeff!
Great advice!