 In the past two months, I attended quite a few graduation ceremonies and celebrations. While sitting at one college graduation, I witnessed people graduating from college for the first time with their bachelor’s degrees. In the same ceremony, I witnessed people graduate with advanced degrees… masters and doctorates. I sat and reflected on the dreams sitting in that room. I wondered how the graduates thought their lives would magically change because of the new pieces of paper they had to hang on their walls.
It provoked me to think about the word commencement. Commencement means “a beginning or start”. The “feel” of graduation is one of anticipation. It evokes a sense of celebration. There are only a handful of events in life that evoke such a celebration… graduations, weddings, baby births (especially the “first” baby), perhaps promotions. When thinking about these celebrations, I wondered why we would wait until one of these special events in life to “begin”. Each day when we wake up, we have the opportunity to start over. We have the opportunity to begin the day a bit differently with our family members in our homes. We have the opportunity to begin the day differently with our colleagues. We have the opportunity to be a better leader. We don’t have to live our lives on autopilot. Switch gears and aim to be better each day. What will you do differently this week to be better?
5 Comments
9/3/2019 06:01:01 pm
My teachers told me that once we graduate, it is just the start of the new chapter of our lives. We graduated high school without even entering to the point that we are going to open new doors and opportunities. For us, it is just an event we must take. After how many years passed, we are forced to face reality and corporate industry. We can see that everyone has changed, we become mature and responsible to our actions. I just missed the high school days of mine. 10/15/2019 05:05:15 am
Graduation signifies the end of being a student, but the start of a new beginning or a new journey. It's the day that every student wish to come into their lives, to have the degree that they painstakingly work to be their armor as they battle the corporate world. It is also the day that they wish would never come, for it will mean that they will be separated to the friends they have learned to live everyday. May God bless all the graduates of this year and hope that they soon find the job they're aiming. 4/21/2022 05:50:59 am
It is always a great feeling after achieving a bachelor degree. It is one of the valuable moment of the life . A person after completion graduation will be ready for future goals and challenges. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPaula Patterson is a Superintendent of Schools who shares practical points on leadership. 
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