A few weeks ago a friend sent me an email asking if I would give the commencement speech to her graduating class of eighth graders. As usual I didn't notice it and failed to respond. Needless to say it never happened. But it got me thinking about what I would say.


I would be addressing a bunch of kids who were about to leave the security and predictability of Elementary School and go off to a world of High School and worse... Puberty! What kind of advice could I give them that; a) wouldn't bore them. B) be helpful. And c) wouldn't offend the crowd of parents and priests.  Here is what I came up with:


I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your accomplishments thus far. Even the least academically successful among you have accomplished some pretty amazing things. To begin with, I'd like you all to take a nice deep breath. That's it. Breathe in now exhale. Pretty great huh? You'd be amazed how many people would love to be able to do just that. But you can. You're alive. Not only are you alive, but you're alive here. You're alive now. The molecules in your body are part of an organism that is aware of itself. If you think that's not special, well the molecules in your seat can't say that. And 25 years ago your molecules couldn't either. I know. I was here and I didn't see any of you. 


Now let's take a minute to see how you got here. Because, as you all know you're about to embark on a new journey to High School and it helps to know how you got to the starting point of your journey. 


To begin with you were all born. That means you've already overcome odds greater than winning the lottery. Without going into the actual biology of how you came to be you, let me just say that if you were conceived on a Thursday but your parents were tired that Thursday and didn't conceive a child until Friday, you wouldn't be you. You'd be your brother or sister. You see, in order for you to be you, everything that happened right up to the moment you were conceived had to happen exactly as it did. And when I say everything, I mean exactly that. Absolutely everything. If Pope John Paul had not become Pope, you would be someone else. If your mom was walking home that evening and crossed the street and someone driving a car had had a bad night's sleep and wasn't paying attention and hit your mom, you wouldn't be here. Ever. 
Now why do I make this point. Well I make it to show you that while you can be sad that something bad happened before you were born, you cannot regret it because it had to happen for you to be here. That means that you can study the past and all the problems that happened, but you also have to accept them, all of them. Remember that when someone tells you you should hate a group of people because of what their grandfather did to your grandfather. Remember, good or bad, it had to happen. 
Next let's consider how you got here. You know I have heard it said lots of times during my life that "you're lucky to be an American". Let me tell you, luck had absolutely nothing to do with it. I am American the same way most of you are American because we were born here. Now those of you who are not citizens or were not born here this still applies to you. You are here, graduating from this school for the same reason that we were born here. Because of the deliberate actions and sacrifices of your parents and ancestors. At some point in the past someone (or many someones) decided to leave their ancient homes and come to America. They made real sacrifices and worked hard so you could be sitting in those seats. There was no luck or magic involved. So there is no reason to feel guilty about your circumstances. You are where you are because literally thousands of people and things happened to make it so.  But know this, the same rule applies to those around you as well. Those who are better off or worse off than you had no more choice in their circumstances than you did. They got that way because of things their ancestors did. Things that also had to happen for you to be here. So remember that when you feel envy. I know in my own lifetime I've looked at Bill Gates and said I wish I had what he had. But that is a ridiculous thought. If Bill Gate's father wasn't the Attorney General of Washington State, I wouldn't be here. And either would you.
So, let's recap. We've covered old hatreds, guilt about who you are, envy of others. Whew! Enough!
Now let's talk about where you're going. High School. 
I remember High School. I went to an all boys High School. Boy was that rough! But what made it rough was what I was going through. Without going too deeply into it, let me say that High School is a time of acting stupid. At least for most people. That's ok. A little stupidity is part of growing up. But keep this in mind. Remember how I told you that you got here because of what your parents did. Well someday your children are going to say that about you. If you do well, they will benefit. If you mess up, they will pay. This is an absolute fact. The odds of Bill Gates getting rich were greatly altered by what his parents and grandparents did. The same is true of you.
Right now, you are sitting here and the world's eyes are upon you. Or at least your world. You think that you are the center of the universe. It's all about you. Well it is... For the moment. Enjoy yourself, have fun, you've earned it. But remember you are not and end, you are a middle. A link in a long chain of humanity that goes back thousands of years and goes thousands of years into the future.
Don't dwell in the past, enjoy the present, be mindful of the future and your place in it. 


Thank you.