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Edgewood Senior Celebration Brunch 2009 |
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Top row: Reese McArdle, Michael Benedict, Patrick Cooksey, Peter Sismour, Zachary Good.
EDGEWOOD FOUNDATION BRUNCH SPEECH, 2009 Laura Horner
Good morning. I was surprised when the event planning committee asked me to speak, because at first I thought I wouldn’t really have anything to say. Then I thought about it and realized that I had plenty to say -- so settle in guys. Actually, I could keep it simple and be done. Here’s what most parents in the room probably want me to say -- GO TO SCHOOL, GRADUATE, GET A JOB AND MOVE OUT.
But I’ve actually decided to try to be a little more insightful and narrow down the thoughts I’d like to share to three main messages.
The first thing I’d like to emphasize -- and I know this through experience -- is that you don’t have to have all of the answers right now. I know everyone is asking you whether or not you’re going to college, where you’re going to college, what you’re going to major in. And they’ve been asking these same questions for two years now. I know because I’m one of the people who asks those kinds of questions.
Well – all you can do right now is take your best guess at what you want to do next. Nothing you say or think is set in stone. I went into school as a chemistry major and then, after becoming the longest undecided major in the history of my school, came out as a communications major. Go figure.
And all you can do is take your best guess at where you want to go to study. Statistics show that nearly 60 percent of the students who completed undergraduate degrees in 2005 had attended 2 or more institutions prior to graduation.
This surprised me at first, but when I thought about it and thought of all of the young people I know and what they’ve done, I realized that it was true. So while the school you’re choosing now may seem perfect, there’s a reasonable chance that, for one reason or another, you’ll complete your education at a different school.
And – this isn’t meant to scare you parents - but there’s also a reasonable chance you won’t complete your degree in exactly four years. In fact, only 54 percent of students entering college have an undergraduate degree 6 years later. Lots of things get in the way – money, changes in what you want to do, time lost during transfers, with some groups, but I’m sure not this one – getting sidetracked by the social scene.
So it’s clear that things don’t always end up exactly as you plan them at the start. And the key to remember is that – that’s OK. Everyone gets caught up in doing things according to a certain plan and if that plan changes sometimes they go into tailspin – especially because it always seems as if everyone else is exactly on plan.
Well everyone’s plan can be different and the more you’re willing to open your mind, accept changes as they come, adjust to them, and open your mind to new possibilities, the more successful you’ll be. Just follow your own plan and work at it as hard as you can. And you need to carry that through to the time after school.
It used to be that people were a lot like my husband, Kevin. They got out of school, got a job and stayed with the same company forever. He’s been with Alcoa for almost 30 years – I’m a lot younger than he is. Well -- both companies and people have changed and the average number of jobs people today end up having is by the time they’re 38 is about 13. You take out some of those teenage jobs and you’re still left with quite a few. Less than two percent of the people surveyed had only 1 or 2 jobs in his or her lifetime. So flexibility and openness to change is absolutely critical.
The second thought I’d like to leave with you today (don’t forget there are three so we’re not quite done) is to use technology well, embrace it, but don’t hide behind it. You are the first generation that has to adjust to the complete and utter change of the world as we knew it because of technology.
Today, when you go into a technical field of training, they’re actually preparing you for jobs that don’t even exist yet. It’s moving that quickly. Our generation is just mind blown by the number and rapidness of the changes that have taken place since you’ve been born. The first text message was sent in 1992 and it was just in 1995 that the Internet started being used. Those things happened AFTER all of you were born. Technology is critical to the future and with the amount of new technical information being created is doubling every two years for students starting a 4-year technical or college degree. This means that half of what you learn in your first year of studies will be outdated by your third year. The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004 – mostly technology driven. Hard to imagine.
But as important as technology is, don’t use all of those capabilities to hide from human contact. How many of you have your cell phones with you right now? How many of you have sent a text message since you’ve been here? How many of you have sent a text message to someone in this room? I watch my kids (and my husband) do it all the time. It’s good to have that capability, but texting, Facebook, Twittering and all the rest of it can prevent you from learning to look another human being in the eyes, to shake hands meaningfully and to carry on an interesting and enriching conversation. That’s what will truly carry you through life.
You can’t just sit in a room with your college roommate and text each other all day. You also can’t sit in a job interview and text the person interviewing you and hope to come out with the job.
And you can start out a text or Facebook relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend – in fact 1 out of 8 couples who married last year met on-line -- but eventually you have to talk with them or it could make for a pretty strange relationship.
And the more you make those personal contacts, the more true and successful relationships you’ll have. You might have 600 or more “friends on Facebook, which is fun, but don’t forget to have the relationships that get below the surface.
So use technology to enhance your life and the lives of others, but remember, there’s no substitute for human contact and real human relationships.
A perfect example of what I’m talking about is what my third message focuses on. – almost there guys. This is a short one, but it’s a reminder that you come from a great place. A place with a lot of great people. I’ve had the privilege of living and travelling all over the world, in places as different as Africa and Europe, so I know for a fact that Pittsburgh is a wonderful city and I know that Edgewood is an exceptional community. It’s a goofy little town with lots of traditions like this one and all the ones that will be highlighted in the video, and that makes it the special place it is. You might take it for granted, but you won’t find a lot of places like this out in the real world – so always treasure where you came from -- be proud of it -- and, as your parents we hope you come back a lot. Don’t we????
Thanks for listening. Any questions? |
