Last Sunday I had the pleasure of addressing the 2018 Guy-Perkins graduating class.

I tried to impress on them that they are only going to be given a small window of time to make their mark. For the next several years they’re going to be told “you’re too young, you don’t know, sit back and watch, here let me” and then later they’ll hear “you’re too old, you don’t know, we don’t do it that way anymore, here let me.” That small window of time in between is what they’ll have to work with to make a difference.

In making a difference, I told them don’t be afraid to buck trends, break the wheel, do the “wrong” thing. Every old generation is scared of and disrespects the next generation; no one likes being pushed aside or replaced, but that’s the cycle of life. So I encouraged them to just keep plugging away and wait for their time to come.

Finally I said that when their time comes, they should not fall into the traps and mistakes that my generation made. Mine is a dishonest, petty, greedy, indecent generation…and so was the one before mine, and the one before them, etc. So I challenged them to break the cycle and be a generation of leaders who are (A) honest, (B) sacrificial, (C) decent/kind, and who take the Golden Rule and apply it to everyone they meet.

If you’re interested, here is the video of the presentation (though the audio is poor)…