First that they be absolutely determined to enjoy what they did. Giving two examples, he said he had never met anyone who succeeded at something he or she hated.
Second that they not to be afraid to fail, and that when they failed at something, an experience they were likely to have, they should learn from it and move on.
Third that they never give up on anybody because people change. What he basically told them was that a person poorly skilled at something can become an expert in it.
Fourth that they go to home often, for he had learnt that when we face the toughest times in life, we have to get to our roots and remember our fundamentals. He seemed to have had a nurturing home because he said that his parents had taught him to work hard and care deeply, to suspect people on the make and still respect those who just can't make it.
Fifth that they trust their instincts. Because instincts come from fundamentals, he encouraged them to develop good ones and depend on them. He added that sometimes their instincts would be all they'd have to tell them they were moving in the right direction when everyone else told them they were going crazy.
Last that they trust their instincts and never give up on themselves. Pointing out that human progress is a chain and every generation forges a little piece of it, he challenged them to do what they could in their own lives to strengthen their link and thereby hand down a stronger chain to the next generation.
Sikorski informed the high school graduates that if justice was finally to be gained for the oppressed, it would be because their generation would give the world people like Martin Luther King who faced guns and police dogs because he believed injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
If the hungry were to be fed, it would be because their generation gave the world people as committed as Harry Chapin who gave the last years of his short life, not to the riches he could gain for himself as a singer, but to raising millions of dollars to help feed the hungry.
Sikorski went on to tell the high school graduates that as they sought their way for themselves and for America, they had the following tools needed to overcome world wars, great depressions and terrible natural disasters:
- the values of a just society
- the strength of revolutionary democracy
- the power of a free economy
- the muscle of a skilled workforce
- the talents of an educated people
He told them that their vision for themselves and their country should be as John Steinbeck described it: "I see us ... not in the setting Sun of a dark night of despair ahead. I see us in the crimson light of a rising Sun, fresh from the burning, creative hand of God. I see great days ahead. Great days made possible by men and women of will and vision."
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "An Inspiring Correspondence".
