Graduation 2009

Four more weeks.

After graduation—just for the hell of it—ask yourself 9 questions.

My video blog is loosely based on my personal feelings about all of us who are graduating and the pressure of figuring out what we want for our future. I feel like too many of us are deciding that we must conform to the traditional route and find a job and officially become ‘independent’ of our parents. But, many of us have a choice...

There are many people who do not have the luxury of ‘choice’ because they have others depending on them to make ends meet—remember the economy is brutally affecting many thousands of people—even in Orange County.

But, for those of us at a crossroads—here is some advice: Carpe diem.

When I use this phrase I want you to think about what it means. Think of more than the inspirational catchphrase and popular tagline that has been overly used by our peers and ask yourself the question: What are YOU seizing? How do YOU want to seize the day?

While some people are graduating in weeks and others in months, completing your undergraduate education is a big deal, regardless of whether you are moving on to grad school, traveling, or entering the workforce. It is a culmination of a lot of sleepless nights, crazy parties, and many hard lessons. I want my peers to realize that you have a choice in life to do what makes you happy and take a stand against those things that force you to do otherwise.

There have been some people I have spoken with, who say that after graduation they want to go and “find themselves and experience.” While that is very profound thinking, it’s complete horseshit.

“Experience makes sense, but... find yourself!?! Did you lose yourself somewhere???”

For each of you thinking the same thing, the answer is: You know WHO you are. All of the challenges and accomplishments and failures you have made up until this moment have made you WHO you are. Most people do not realize where the problem lies. The problem lies in taking all of the knowledge and experiences you have made thus far and figuring out how to apply them to your future. Now, ask yourself: what do you want for your future?

If you are able to answer these 8 questions, then you are not completely lost. If you answer “I don’t know” to any of these questions, then you are not completely lost (and braver than most).

1. What makes you happy?

2. What makes you sad?

3.What qualities do you admire most in humanity?

4. What do you dream of?

5. What are your weaknesses?

6. What are your strengths?

7. What will complete your life before you die?

8. What defines you?

When I first developed these questions, they seemed silly, but necessary to understanding and developing what I truly wanted to do. Maybe not today or even after I graduate, but they are a priority in my life now that I will work towards doing. I won’t push them aside.

The reality is that as excited as I am, thinking about the future can be scary because you have NO control over what will happen. So if you are in the same boat, I will tell you what I keep telling myself.

“Be patient, have hope and breathe...everything will be alright.”



The art of video-blogging

First of all, writing a blog is way cooler than I thought it would be. At times, it did feel like a drag, rushing to get a post in for the week, but most of the time I enjoyed putting my thoughts up on “my very own blog” on the gateway of knowledge (a.k.a the Internet). Creating your own video blog is actually a little more time consuming I found than just writing though.

Interestingly enough I am a broadcast journalism major and I prefer the challenges of print...go figure. While it was kinda neat putting together a video blog, my PC doesn’t have the easy capabilities to just record a video and upload it like some can in less than 10 minutes with their MAC or webcam. It takes me a little longer. Unfortunately, I do not have a webcam on my computer either and I did not feel like buying one for this one assignment. I felt a little rushed with this entry, but that is only due to my insanely busy school and work schedule... not the professor’s—two weeks is plenty of time.

Anyways, it was definitely a learning experience, but I understand now how to upload and let’s face it—its kina cool seeing yourself on Youtube if you haven’t before. Would I do it again? Maybe. I prefer print commentary over video commentary, but only because of the fact that I am not the most computer savvy in the world. But regardless of the technical challenges, it was neat recording the vid and uploading it.