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Ladies and gentlemen, people and places, heroes and
villains, cops and robbers, fruits and vegetables, I would like to begin by
thanking the class of 2009 for inviting me to say a few words, and most
importantly, I would like to thank the PTO for raising the $11,000 to have
me come speak.
So, I suppose I am here to give you some advice about
life and how to live it, and I may or may not get to that in one or two
moments.
But, first of all, I’d like to remind you to thank your
teachers. Chances are, you don’t even realize yet
how much you’ve learned from them. Sure, you may remember learning about
geometric proofs from Mrs. Lehman, or double helixes from Ms. Monty, but
when was the last time you thought about your own concept of the number
1000, and how in the dark you would be if Ms. McGill hadn’t sent you home
with the instruction to bring in 1000 of any one thing, divided into 10
groups of 100, which were further divided into 10 groups of 10? I’ve
thought many times recently about sitting in my back yard, breaking sticks
into twigs, and bundling them up with rubber bands. If I had not performed
this task at the age of 7, would I ever have really understood what the
number 1000 meant?
Another valuable and basic lesson that comes to mind for
me, is the time when, in first grade, during a simple game of Thunder,
Lightning, Fire, Ice, Mr. Blackford called out lightning, and everyone
began running from thunder to lightning, but as we were running, we
realized that the fastest runner in the class, the leader of the pack, was
running towards fire, and rather than continue on our path towards
lightning, everyone’s path curved 90 degrees in one direction, and all of
us followed the leader towards fire. Mr. Blackford immediately sat us all
down in the Monkey Box and gave us a very serious lecture about the
importance of thinking for ourselves that has remained in my memory to this
day.
Now, chances are, this exact event did not happen to
you, but I am confident that as time goes by, you will be reminded quite
regularly of instances in which you have learned specific essential things
from specific essential people. And I encourage you to write short notes to
these people, thanking them for all they have done for you. You don’t have
to do this right away. In fact, it might be even more meaningful if you
wait ten years, and then start writing occasional notes to people who have
changed your life. Chances are, there is nothing
you could possibly do that would mean more to a teacher than to write him
or her a few short paragraphs somewhere down the road about how they’ve
affected you. This is directed to everyone in this room today. Write some
notes. Notes are great. Who wouldn’t want a spontaneous thank you note? I
know I would.
As you go off into this world, you will meet many more
teachers. My advice to you is this: let everyone be your teacher. Let the
world be your teacher. And don’t be a passive student. Attempt to extract
knowledge and wisdom from every mind you meet. Here’s some more advice:
college is great, but libraries are free. And a good librarian is often the
best teacher. Wherever you go, try to talk to people one-on-one. Many
colleges will give you credit for individual tutorials with professors of
your choice on topics of your choosing. My biggest regret is not taking
advantage of this until my senior year. Some of my peers started schmoozing
with professors right from the get-go, and not only did this benefit their
education, but in some cases it led to the professors inviting them to join
their music ensembles after graduation, and they now tour the world with
them. But wherever you go from here, talk to people. If you want to know
something, ask someone. And if you happen to be in possession of some
knowledge of your own, share it with other people. In the words of Fred
Rogers, it all works out if you talk and you listen.
Now that I’ve said a few words about teachers and
teaching, I’d like to change things up, and talk about you, the graduates,
and perhaps give you some advice.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man may in fact
be King, but we don’t live in that world. We live in the land of the
two-eyed, where the three-eyed man is king. Lesson is, if you wanna be king, you gotta get
yourself another eye, see? But what makes you so sure you wanna be king? The king is a freak. A three-eyed freak.
You don’t wanna be a freak, do you? Maybe you do
and maybe you don’t. It’s hard to tell, until you get that third eye.
Foresight is blind, so I say it’s best not to
worry about it.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Avoid
foreign entanglements. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Don’t be a racist. Don’t be a classist. Don’t
be a sexist. Don’t be a moron. The map is not the territory, the menu is
not the meal, and the word is not the thing it describes. Keep yourself
clean. Cleanliness is next to cleanliness. Love your neighbor; love your
enemy; Love yourself; love is all you need. Be a lover, not a fighter. If
you want to make the world a better place take a
look at yourself and make a change. Eat your vegetables, brush your teeth, get plenty of sunlight. Walk, don’t drive. Or, if you
must drive, buckle up. Be a philosopher king unto your own Universe. Don’t
get distracted from your goals by drugs, alcohol, and television. Here’s
something I can’t stress highly enough: beans, in addition to being the
cheapest source of protein, are among the healthiest and most delicious
sources of protein. Black beans and lentils are my favorites, but there are
plenty of others. Fava Beans, Cannellini Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Great
Northern Beans, Kidney Beans, Lima Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans, Soy
Beans, … the list goes on, my friends. If you find yourself in difficult
financial times, don’t try to live on McDonald’s. Beans are much cheaper,
and much better for you. And you can spice them up a bit, and I think
you’ll really enjoy them. Even if you’re rich, you can still eat your
beans. Dried beans are the cheapest. Because, you see, even though they
cost more by the pound, when you add the water, they triple in weight. So,
if you have a kitchen, I recommend getting yourself some dried beans.
Another thing you have to keep mind when dealing with dried beans is that
you have to soak them ahead of time, which brings me to my next topic:
planning ahead. It’s always a good idea to plan ahead.
So, what have I said so far? Plan ahead, eat your beans,
love your neighbor, write your teachers. I think those are four important
things to keep in mind. Here’s another: Be thankful for everything you
have. If you are religious, thank God I say, or if you’re not, you can
begin each day like I do, and thank the void. The important thing is to
just be thankful. When things get difficult, look at the colors! Look at
all the beautiful blues and reds and maroons, and greens. Look at the
light! How lucky you are to be alive to see color, and to hear music, and
to live and love and to laugh and to cry, and feel ecstasy and pain, and to
grow and to learn, and to eat and smell flowers and to watch sunsets and to
write poems and to run marathons. When times get tough, try not to lose
sight of the beauty of it all, and the simplicity of it all, and the
complexity of it all, and the absurdity of it all. Why cry at life when you
can laugh at it? Or even better, cry, and then laugh at yourself
crying. That’s where the real happiness occurs. Laughter through tears. In
this world, you’ll have some trouble; when you worry, you make it double.
Don’t worry; be happy. When you walk out the door today, I want you to jump
up and down. Jump up and down and thank your feet and legs and muscles and
parents, and grandparents, and ancestors and everything that has happened
throughout history that allows you the pleasure of jumping up and down.
Life is a celebration. Talk to the trees, worship the wind. Build a
sandcastle to the moon.
I would like to conclude by bringing up two quotations
from the great philosopher Jiminy Cricket: “Always let your conscience be
your guide,” and “when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” The
first quotation is one that I doubt anyone would disagree with. However,
throughout life, you will face many people who disagree with the second.
There are probably many of those people in this very room. Don’t listen to
them. When you wish upon a star, your dreams do come true. Dreams are constantly coming true. I myself find
that it is not unusual for 4 or 5 of my dreams to come true in a single
afternoon. I posit this: those who would deny that wishing upon a star will
cause dreams to come true have never even bothered to try wishing upon a
star. You can be anything you want to be. Ignore anyone who tells you
otherwise. There is a wealth of possibilities available to you. Anything
your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no
request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come
true. Thank you for your time, and
don’t forget to jump up and down on your way out.
-Chris White, 2009
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