Hey you and you and you. I've been traveling like the dervish but I'm
slowly making my way back to the MIA. It's been a great trip...but nothing
could prepare me for the amazing group of kids I got to meet at my cousin's
graduation from Carnegie Mellon this weekend. It was truly inspiring to be
around so many brilliant young minds. I'm choked up thinking of it now.
college in general, it was a real thrill to come to a storied academic
institution and witness the incredible energy of a group of kids who had
their whole lives ahead of them. I am feeling this generation is getting a
really shit rap- I'm not sure there's something so wrong with pushing for
what you want at a young age as well as having the confidence to follow your
dreams. Yes these kids are texting and tweeting and connecting in a new and
admittedly scary way (at the expense of real human connection), but man,
they are a passionate bunch of responsible humans that I would bet the farm
on that they will indeed shift many paradigms as well as fix the mess of the
world that most of us grew up with, and that they are growing up with as
well. I sat with my 22 year old cousin and chatted about his robotics thesis and
PHD plans over a fantastic meal (check out Soba in Pittsburgh if you ever
pass through...so good) and recalled what I was doing at 22- which was being
extraordinarily blasé and more than nihilist about my future and partying
like tomorrow didn't matter. Would I change any of that? Nope. Had a blast
and wouldn't change a thing. But the achievements of my cuz and his fellow
graduates at CMU and all over the country and world are no joke and are
quite the opposite of my generation's apathy and innate cynicism. They are a
force to be reckoned with, and we have to start listening to what they have
to say. I talked to a student who wanted to produce video games, one who
majored in cognitive science, and many others involved in some serious game
changing shit. I have to say sitting on that field as the procession began,
I got super choked up thinking that all of us are responsible for making the
world a better place for these young adults to live in, and that perhaps
they will have a huge hand in making it better for generations after that. I watched all of their faces and accessed that amazing feeling that comes
with having your whole life ahead of you- with limitless possibilities and
an insane amount of hope. I'm not counting myself out of that kind of
thinking- I think we all need to savor the new and not close any doors in
life and just keep expanding upon what we know- I felt so connected to a
revolution of thinking this weekend and it was an experience I won't soon
forget. I watched as student after student received their diplomas- many had
achieved so much, including my cousin, at such a young age. These are not
the kids that partied their way through school, these were the ones with an
incredible learning lust and deep need to understand the inner workings of
just about everything. I walked away from all of this feeling very hopeful- it is so important for
all of us who to take our collective experiences and not dismiss those that
are more fresh faced and younger than us, but to empower them to keep doing
the amazing work that they do. If you have family or friends graduating in
2010, hats off to all of the grads. They have achieved much in their young
lives. I have no doubt they are going to take it to a new level on this
thing called Planet Earth. And don't count yourself out for being able to
affect change and embrace technology either and contribute in a real way
too. We all have much to offer to each other, regardless of our age.
Congrats to the grads and the class of 2010...what an amazing weekend and so
grateful I attended... And that's what's up this rainy cold Monday in Pittsburgh, PA. Soon I fly
home and I'm super excited to get back to it. I'll be blogging about less
academic pursuits this week as per usual, but felt the need to share and let
you know that more than shoes and manners and the well heeled inspire me. XO