BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) congratulates all the graduates of its respective member institutions as they leave college and begin their new adventures.
Political advisor Jamess Carville once stood in front of a room and offered the following advice to graduates, “You’re going to be doing things and you are going to be scared. It’s natural. Everybody is. And when that happens, and it’s going to happen more than once, do me a favor: go back to the days of your childhood, go in the 100 Acre Wood, take a deep breath and just say, “I’m stronger than I seem, I’m braver than I believe, and I’m smarter than I think.” And then go do it, that’s what it is.”
Some advice from other luminaries in their fields as you step out the door of college (undergraduate/graduate/law/medical) and into a world in which 8:00 a.m. classes and late night study sessions are replaced by 8:00 a.m. meetings and 40-hour plus work weeks.
- “As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own” – Michael Dell (Dell Computers). Don’t be afraid to figure it out. You have a degree in a field – now utilize what you know and go where your dreams take you. Maybe that will be in the field you studied – maybe it will not be. Do what you think is right and do it well.
- “The great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself” – David McCullough (historian). Give back and turn around to help those who are behind you – you laid a groundwork in your programs – some won their divisions, some won the National Collegiate Club Championship or advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship. However, each of you made it to where you are because someone cared enough to give back – parents, friends, teachers, coaches and/or teammates. Don’t be the terminus of that chain. Help those who need your aid and aid those who are helpless.
- “You will never see a U-haul behind a hearse. You can’t take it with you” – Denzel Washington (actor). See above.
- “If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game” – Ben Bernanke (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve). You all played sports – this doesn’t need anymore explanation.
- “Take action. Every story you’ve ever connected with, every leader you’ve ever admired, every puny little thing that you’ve ever accomplished is the result of taking action. You have a choice. You can either be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life” – Bradley Whitford (actor). Don’t be afraid to take risks – great things are accomplished by being the person who is willing to step out of their comfort zone.
- “By all reckoning, the bumblebee is aerodynamically unsound and shouldn’t be able to fly. Yet, the little bee gets those wings going like a turbo-jet and flies to every plant its chubby little body can land on to collect all the nectar it can hold. Bumblebees are the most persistent creatures. They don’t know they can’t fly, so they just keep buzzing around. Like the lowly bumblebee, honored graduates, never give in to pessimism. Don’t know that you can’t fly, and you will soar like an eagle” – Earl Bakken (creator of the Pacemaker). A quote by Winston Churchill probably summarizes this best, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up”. You accomplished great things in the water and in the classroom – now do better.
Famed actor Alan Alda once offered the following in summation at a commencement ceremony, “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing, but what you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.”
We will miss you in the Collegiate Water Polo Association – however, go out and find yourself in your next adventure. We will be here – proud of what you have done and waiting to hear what you will do next.
