"When you embark for strange places don't leave any of yourself safely at the shore...Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory."
-Alan Alda
Dear Graduate,
Congratulations! The day is almost here! The day you cross the stage adorned in a cap and gown or all white and receive your diploma, your degree, your future. Can you believe it?
The sleepless nights that you once believed would end you, the papers that you almost couldn't complete and the exams that you thought for sure would ruin you, all stand behind you. Somehow you made it out to reap the benefits you very much so deserve.
For some of you, these next steps might be terrifying, unknown, or right at your fingertips. But regardless of where destiny might be calling you, even if it is still invisible to you, my greatest hope is that you choose to jump.
Choose to go with all of yourself, despite the fear threatening to hold you back, and dare to ask the universe for whatever it is you want. Perhaps it's that job with a Big 4 or any job, acceptance to Medical School, Grad School, acceptance to undergrad, or simply a direction.
Perhaps you aren't sure what you want to pursue next, and that might scare you more. All it requires of you is to change your perspective. Many people will congratulate you, many will ask you about your next steps, but inevitably all of them will use cliches such as "the world is your oyster" and "you can do anything you set your mind to."
I know this may sound difficult to believe, especially if you aren't sure what your future holds, but my greatest hope is that someday you will begin to believe it. Especially on the days when all you can see is rejection because inevitably it will happen to us in some regard.
But as my favorite cliche goes, "One door closes, so that another may open."
You may not see the doorway yet, or even know which door you should attempt, but you will. After all, you are a graduate now! You are more educated than you were the very first day you walked into class. And you have proven that you are worthy of interest. You are worthy of overcoming obstacles and most importantly, that you are capable of accomplishing all that you aspire to achieve.
So regardless of where you stand on your journey, ready to jump feet first into your next endeavor, or unsure of where to go next, remember this moment today. Remember the moment you submitted your final paper or exam. The moment you realized you were actually graduating, the pride you now feel mulling in your chest.
While you are simply one individual in a sea of almost 8 billion, and there is still so much more to learn regardless of the diploma you now carry, never forget the power that you hold within. The purpose that you now may provide to the rest and the ability you carry to change or promote whatever passion you may have.
And if all else fails, I hope you remember that if not anyone else, I am exceptionally proud of you and all of your accomplishments. Because you know what? You will move MOUNTAINS!
Congratulations to you, graduate. Future impactor of the universe. Future contributor to something bigger than yourself.
You made it, and that is your greatest success story yet.
Sincerely,
Your biggest fan and holder of her own degree
College of Charleston Honors College Class of 2018