First, I am stealing this title from a recent documentary i watched: Run Ricky Run.

Lame, YES, fitting, YES.

I’m standing in line. D12. I can’t even figure out if I’m in the right spot. Roughly 900 students are graduating. What is everyone going to do when they graduate? I wonder if anyone else is thinking this same thing? I don’t know anyone who has a job already. OK, i know a few, but not many. We are all about to pass through an arch. An arch of opportunity. Is it?

I’m wondering because I’m in the same boat. We all are. Sink or swim is approaching. How many will sink? How many will choose fields that mean nothing to their degree? How many of us have skated through college?

In Run Ricky Run, Williams describes himself as he retired from the NFL “I was growing personally, but i wasn’t being productive in my life in any way.” I’m guessing some of the students who will pass through that arch tomorrow are thinking the same thing. Many have grown personally over the last 4 years of their life. Learning what they like/love/hate. Many of them know that their major of choice was a mask. A mask to impress those who needed impressed. I could throw out a statistic describing how many graduates go into their selected field, but whats the point? We all know that most will not.

It’s at this point though that these students need to decide whether they will be productive in our society. What can they do to improve their own life here on earth? Can they do something that is productive to others? Reality is, the 4 year education we have all received was not enough to prepare us for the leap we are about to take. We have all been drones in an educational system that is merely a mask for a business. That’s OK. I understand the business to know that. Most do not. They were trained to believe that their lives will magically be better after. It’s time to stop relying on that lie, and start fulfilling our own futures.

I feel like a hypocrite for even writing this. Look where I am, and then compare! I’m not though. I just have an understanding philosophically of what needs to be said, and what needs to be done. I have no clue where my future will lead, but i have started weeding out certain areas that have zero interest to me, and that’s half the battle really.

Graduates: listen up! Do not rely on that degree to make you happy. Find what you like doing, then build on that. You may become passionate, maybe not. But you are figuring out for yourself! No longer will an adviser, or teacher, or book, tell you what you are good at and what you love. No more grades!

This is perhaps a challenge. In five years, will you be able to look back on your life in college and be thankful or bitter? Think of what you have learned outside of the books. Learned how to communicate, solve problems; personally and professionally,personal growth. Take that knowledge and apply it. Forget the hard knowledge as most of that will be re-introduced in whatever field you choose and focus on your soft skills. You may not think you have any, but you do. Time management (going through a 4 year institution), sacrifice for something (degree), and most important part: drive. You were able to have the drive to get that education. Thus, it is your turn to prove that drive is a skill.

Williams stated “I learned that you cannot blame how you have turned out on your parents. That means that they have control of what you become. The same applies to everything in life. When you place the blame for failure or success on other people, that means they control your fate. I want to be the only person who controls my fate.”

I think this is applied directly to the recent graduates. You control your own future from here on out, its time to embrace that fact.

See you on the dark side of the moon!