Dear Ones: Preschoolers, 6th Graders, High School Seniors, College and University Graduates, Congratulations!
When I graduated from high school, I remember feeling overwhelmed (and honestly, sometimes annoyed) with the number of times I was asked what I was going to become. Desperate to come up with something good to tell people, I tried consulting my magic 8 ball. I held it upside down, gave it a good shake, and asked, "What am I going to do with my life?". I flipped it over and the answer floated up, "Better not tell you now."
It was not very helpful.
That was almost 30 years ago, and questions, like time, never stop. Now I am often asked what I would go back and tell my 18 year old self. This is my answer.
Embrace the suck. Intentionally engage in activities that you are not good at or comfortable with. Sit with people much smarter than you - and listen. Exercise with people who are stronger than you. Serve with people who are braver and more humble than you. That is how you grow and become.
Embracing the suck means staying curious to learn from others and being courageous to try something new and fail along the way. Embracing how we suck allows us to remain compassionate with others when they suck. Especially when they suck at what we are really good at. It keeps us humble, and it keeps us together.
This might seem like weird advice for me to give my 18 year old self during graduation - a time to celebrate all that has been learned and accomplished - but it is not weird at all to give this advice during commencement - a beginning, or a start.
And so, dear graduates, as you celebrate your commencement, I won't ask what you will become, rather, I will share how we begin.
The Vibrant Hawaiʻi Grounding Statement says, "We value flexibility and learning that leads to transformation and we demonstrate this by:
- being honest without shame when we don't know,
- being courageous and adaptive leaders - even when it calls for difficult conversations and even when our outcomes look like failure,
- demonstrating ahonui and haʻahaʻa as we hold tension to achieve change, and,
- practicing makawalu and acknowledging that we each hold one piece that is a part of something bigger.
You are that piece that is part of something bigger. You are amazing. You are our vibrant Hawaiʻi. And we are so incredibly proud of you! Congratulations!
PS: This song is for you. #vibehi
