The May, 2010 cover of The New Yorker had a graduate hanging his degree (Ph.D.) in his old room back home, with his parents looking on. Not much has changed in two years – even for undergraduates, with the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree at 4 percent. Graduation speeches haven’t changed much either; Richard Perez-Pena in his article for the New York Times suggests they are following a standard template, including well-worn references to:
- Do what moves you.
- Much in the world needs fixing.
- Have a little humility.
- Be willing to make mistakes.
- You can make the world better.
Many of this year’s graduation speakers hail from the media, rather than the august halls of academic learning. A few used humor – maybe that’s the best way to face the world.
From Adam Samberg of Saturday Night Live fame for Harvard grads…
“The following majors are apparently useless…history, literature, all things related to art, social studies, East Asian studies, pretty much anything that ends with studies, Romance languages, and, finally, folklore and mythology. Unless, you can somehow turn them into an iPhone app…”
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