“Guess what? You’re screwed. Other than the days of the Great Depression, I cannot think of a worse time to be thrust out into the world; your newly minted diploma in one hand and your loan papers in the other
Why I am Never Asked to Give a Commencement Speech
Short of having the President of the United States or Jay Leno deliver the commencement address at your university or college, I would put money on the fact that few graduates can tell you who did give the speech, let alone what they said.
In a faux commencement address by Woody Allen he wrote “More than at any other time in history, humanity is at a crossroads: one path leads to despair and utter hopelessness; the other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”
Just before I graduated from the University of Miami in 1955 the dean of the graduate school suggested I continue on to secure a master’s and, after that, a doctor of philosophy degree. My only thought at the time was to escape any and all classrooms for the rest of my life!
The U.S. Army accommodated me right after I graduated by inviting me to join its ranks. Well, "invitation" is not exactly the way it was phrased. It turned out to be a far better education than I might have gotten anywhere else.