Holy Cross Graduation Invitation (2011)

In case you missed it, last year I wore a different t-shirt each day and wrote about it. The reason I was able to make it the whole year with a different tee each day was the kind donations from people in my life. Included in those people was a group of students from Holy Cross who are part of the SPUD program that come to visit Hope Lodge every Thursday night (you can take a look at all of those t-shirts here, here, here, here, here, and here).

But these students do more than just give me t-shirts. They talk and laugh with the Hope Lodge guests, play games with them, and help decorate, clean, and organize whenever the Lodge needs it.

Every year it’s hard for me to say goodbye to the seniors, and this year I think will be even more so because the group’s leader has been coming to Hope Lodge for three years. So, I thought since HC didn’t ask me to speak at graduation I’d try to share some words of wisdom with the outgoing SPUD/HC seniors...

1. Don’t panic if you don’t have a job lined up yet – and if you don’t, being a counselor at a summer camp is a good way to get out of your parents’ house for a few months
2. It’s okay to stay in “College Party Mode” for 5 years, but when you get into your upper 20s, drinking too much loses its coolness quickly
3. Always remember that if you have people in your life that love you, you have enough
4. It gets easier going to visit campus post-graduation, but that first time will sting
5. Jesuit Volunteers might also be a good choice if the job thing is stressing you out too much
6. The past four years in college have not determined the rest of your life – you can still be/do whatever you want to if you put your mind to it
7. Each year really does go by faster as you get older (sorry)
8. Budgeting your money is a good thing
9. When you get your first job, be ready to work with someone that you don’t get along too well with (it’s bound to happen eventually)
10. Everything really does happen for a reason
11. It’s still really easy to laugh and have fun after college
12. The only person’s opinion about you that really matters is your own