On Commencement

Don't tell us that we are young, or that we have so much potential. Don't tell us to be careful, or that we are your hope for the future. If we don't know these things by now, there isn't much chance it will help.
Tell us instead that we are invincible, or at least that failure doesn't matter. Tells us that if we don't act, no one will. Tell us to be wise, young as we are, and listen to our own true thoughts, even if we are told they are wrong- but tell us also to listen. To listen, and then to speak.
Tell us to take action. Tell us to live without fear, or worry.
Tell us not to think too far into the future when we are trembling on the brink. Most actions, when heartfelt, work out fine in the end.
Remind us to think of others, to be sure- to have compassion, to draw on what we know. But do not teach us history now, and don't tell us that we are your hope.
Tell us instead that we are our own only hope.
That life is today, now. That we should laugh, and love our friends, and get ourselves lost so we can find ourselves. Don't teach us to do our homework first- the work will be done as needed, if it is important.
We are important, but we aren't potential. We aren't the future. We are young, and we are now. Tell us to live, to act, to question, to think.
Tell us that our moment is every single day, and that we have not yet done enough.