May is the month of graduation. In the Publishing program, this means saying goodbye–or hopefully just “see you later”–to many of our fellow students.
Graduation, whether from high school, college, or graduate school, is also the time of the book-giving tradition. Usually we end up with at least one copy of Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by good ol’ Dr. Seuss. Don’t get me wrong, this classic picture book book has some wonderfully inspiring lines like, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
As lovers of words, literature, articles, and blogs, it might be the perfect time to receive a different kind of book for graduation.
Sticking with the child-like theme with a grown-up approach, The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, may be just the book to inspire a graduating student to keep a warm heart for others while entering the competitive job world. What better kind and cuddly soul to teach us the practice of patience than Winnie the Pooh?
Learning about kindness shouldn’t stop with Winnie the Pooh. Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness is the transcription of author George Saunders’ convocation speech that he gave at Syracuse University. The New York Times posted the speech on its website, and within days, had been shared more than one million times. Sometimes what we need most before a frightening new experience is simply a reminder that the lives we lead are more fulfilling if we fill them with kindness.
Maybe the best way to learn about ourselves after graduation is to write our own book, well, sort of. Deciding what we want for our futures can be difficult to sort out. My Future Listography: All I Hope to Do in Lists could be the tool to expose what we really want, revealing the truths out of the thought-provoking prompts. Of course, we may just use it to write down all the new books we want to read. That wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Go forth and prosper my graduating friends. May the wisdom of your journey at Pace guide you to the next step in your life.
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