Commencement Speech

The speaker is correct when she says that after graduating from college, students should pursue their own goals rather than others'. From the first day of kindergarten to the graduation of college, students are influenced to fulfill what others want them to. Teachers tell students to make good grades, friends tell their friends that they are only cool if they fit in, and parents show acceptance when their child has succeeded in what they wanted them to. Students can "put down the backpack" once they have completed their education because the real world is about pleasing theirselves. They do not have to be perfect anymore or try so hard to live up to the standards of other people. Rather, they must go beyond the boundaries of society's basic rules and seek life based on their own rules. People must ask themselves questions such as, "Why am I doing this?" to make sure that the answer is "for myself." The sole purpose of every action in their life needs to be for the benefit of themselves in order to achieve happiness. After college there is no set of limitations or requirements to follow because they must be determined by one's self. In order to succeed, rules need to be broken. Following rules set by others will not create a sense of fulfillment because they were not for the sole purpose of happiness in the individual. Although one could possibly be judged for doing something out of the ordinary, it does not matter. As long as they believe that they are doing what is important to their life, it is acceptable. Since no single person is exactly like another, limitations should not be universal. Most people think that once someone graduates from college they must start a career, get married, and then have children. If someone were to go against this set of rules imprinted into the minds of Americans, they would be frowned upon. In reality, decisions made should be based on that person's desires only. They must not sacrifice their character in order to make others accept them. To succeed, one must persuade others that their regulations are important to helping society. Parents try to persuade their children to do what they want them to do, but this sacrifices individuality. Trying to please others will only result in a fake personality. Being fake does not help anybody because success is only achievable by people that are content with themselves. In order to live a successful life one must accept that perfection is different to every individual. The ideal image and grades are opinionated to society, although people think that there is a set of guidelines they must follow. People need to identify all of the flaws in theirselves before they can fully accept the fact that they are not perfect. They will learn to respect the fact that not all other people can live up to their expectations. Everyone has a different view on the "perfect" life, so there is not a universal code for perfection.