5 Insights For the Class of 2020

By Linda Fisher Thornton

I have a special message for our 2020 graduates. This year has not turned out as we had hoped or planned that it would. You are probably feeling a great sense of loss from missing out on milestone events and celebrations related to graduation. You are also entering the next chapter of your lives at a time of great divisiveness, instability and unrest.

You are likely wondering what will happen now that the entire landscape has changed, and so little is certain about your future. Take heart and learn from the stories of those who have dealt with great hardship and overcome it.

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

As you try to rebuild your image of your future plans in these difficult times, I have 5 pieces of advice to share that may be useful. I wish someone had shared these life insights with me when I was a new graduate beginning the next chapter of my life.

5 Insights For the Class of 2020 

1. Find Ethical Role Models – While many others around you will stray from the path and make bad choices, your ethical role models will keep you looking forward toward becoming your best.
2. Manage Your Information Consumption – It is easy to become overwhelmed or fearful when we are constantly exposed to the worst of what’s out there or comparing ourselves to others. Intentionally follow good news and manage your media time so it doesn’t take time away from relationships or building your own good life.
3. Become a Truth Beacon – Become the one others can count on to evaluate information and determine whether it is “fake news” or an important truth. You will ground yourself, and become a person that others can count on to cut through the chatter to find what matters.
4. Take One Step At a Time, One Day at a Time – A wise person once said to me at a difficult time in my life “All you have to do is get through this for one day.” I realized I had been taking on the stress of challenges I would face in the future that were not directly before me. Using a “one day at a time” focus, we can overcome our challenges without becoming disheartened.
5. Find Meaning Through Service – There are many different approaches to life. Some of them are self-serving and others are deeply focused on serving others. I believe that it is through service to others that we find our true happiness. As we shift our focus away from our own troubles and toward serving others, we find a sense of meaning in our lives.

While the world will pull you in many different compelling directions, it is your values that will keep you anchored. Become aware of them. Nurture them. Know what you believe in. Live it. Set an example for others by building a good, ethical life in a chaotic world.

We are counting on you.