I’ll probably get thrown in the Eternal Cynics Club for this, but most adults have never contemplated their core values, nor will they. Of the graduating seniors who are listening to such speeches, the ones who think they “have it all figured” are living in idealism will later find themselves attached to other guiding principles.

The last thing we need is another wave of kids ready to “change the world.” Where we DO agree is that people should take an approach to life that is appropriate to them. My advice not only saves the vast majority from a future moment of disconnect and disillusionment, it actually ends up changing the world on the scale of the individual.

Everyone wants someone else to change the course of the climate, yet I have to pay to change the oil in my car. It’s the classic battle of the ideal and the pragmatic.