Graduation advice may seem cliché, trite, but it’s true | In Our Opinion

Parents, relatives, teachers and classmates will shower 2013-14 Oak Harbor and Coupeville high school graduates with advice and words of inspiration. Most of those words will follow along the lines of … • Take advantage of your education. • Don’t settle for second best. • Follow your heart. • Make your mark in the world. • Serve others before yourself. • Remember, this is only the beginning.

Parents, relatives, teachers and classmates will shower 2013-14 Oak Harbor and Coupeville high school graduates with advice and words of inspiration.

Most of those words will follow along the lines of …

• Take advantage of your education.

• Don’t settle for second best.

• Follow your heart.

• Make your mark in the world.

• Serve others before yourself.

• Remember, this is only the beginning.

These ideas are all common, corny and cliche.

They are also very sound advice.

We applaud the dedication, work and commitment of the most recent Whidbey graduates. We recognize that the school experience was different for each individual.

Some marveled at the new knowledge they obtained daily.

Some found it torturously mind-numbing.

Some soaked up the social interaction.

Some wished they could have attended school alone.

Some excelled in the many avenues of expression, be it academics, activities or the arts.

Some found school life mundane and boring.

All, however, are handed the same diploma.

Now what?

A very demanding and somewhat demented teacher once said, “That hollow sound you hear when your head and a book collide is not the book.”

He got it wrong.

In his arrogance, he saw the book as the ultimate in education. A book, however, is just a static tool. The mind, no matter how ignorant or shallow he thought it was, is dynamic.

You, not the book, will determine your fate.

So, grab that education, pursue your dreams, positively impact others — you know, all those cliches — because they are not trite, they are right — and see what you can do.

Adulthood will be fun, painful, exhilarating and sometimes just plain weird, but it will be your life.

Good luck to the Class of 2014.