Across the First District, thousands of high school seniors are celebrating - celebrating the years of dedication and hard work it has taken to be able to walk across that stage, diploma in hand, and declare themselves a graduate. What an achievement.
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of addressing the graduating class of Lancaster County High School during their commencement ceremony on Saturday. I wanted to share some of what I said as a message to all graduates in the First District as they prepare to begin their careers, enroll in post-secondary education, or fight for our nation:
As I thought about my remarks, I asked myself, what sort of things might a recent high school graduate want to hear at his or her graduation. I wanted to stay away from the clichés and overused inspirational mantras, and instead talk about the future, talk about the world you will shape for humanity.
Imagine your community 15 years from now. You could be teleworking anywhere in the country or the world, speaking with colleagues based in Milan, Rio, and Seattle. You could be at home and need an item from the grocery store. You pick up your smart phone, use a voice command to order your item, and have it delivered to your door by a drone in a matter of minutes. Or perhaps you are just finishing up a conversation as your car pulls you into your driveway.
We already see this happening today, and it is both exciting and challenging as we enter this new frontier. Because of technology, people are more connected than they have ever been before.
However, in this era of extreme connectivity, we must not forget about the most important kind of connectivity: human connectivity. Throughout history, human beings have inherently been social creatures. We have learned to survive and thrive through the “togetherness” of social groups and gatherings. Our strength as humans is who we are as a nation of people. The most precious commodities on this planet are our health, love, and happiness.
While I am a huge advocate of technology, we can never forget the importance of a human connection.
This is what I ask everyone to remember as you move forward into the next stage of your life, whatever that may be: embrace relationships and conversations, interact.
Work with the people around you to create something beautiful, to create the world you want to live in, the legacy you want to leave behind. Continue to breathe life and innovation into our communities, challenge yourself to push your limits. Try your ideas. Make them better. Try them again. Don’t be afraid to fail. Go make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. You have what it takes to make a lasting impact on your community, your nation, and your world.
