Commencement

At graduation ceremonies, there are often people asked to speak and give advice to the new graduates.  At commencement ceremonies at universities, this especially is the case. This spring Charlie Denson, president of Nike brand, spoke at Utah State, Civil Rights Activist and religious leader Rev. France A. Davis, spoke at University of Utah, General Authority Seventy Elder Patrick Kearon spoke at BYU, and local philanthropist Jeanne Hall spoke at Weber State University.  I am sure all of them gave incredibly fantastic advice, but what if you could have your Book of Mormon hero speak at your graduation?  ​

I came across an entertaining article today about that.  My favorite was the idea of having Alma the Younger speak.  What do you imagine he would say?  How about, “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.  You can’t start the next chapter of your life by re-reading the last one.”  Remember Alma the Younger was a bit of a wild teenager who made some pretty bad decisions in his youth, but luckily there was another chapter to Alma’s life, a pretty incredible chapter that never would have happened if he would have sat back and thought that he wasn’t worthy because he had messed up in the past.  When you graduate high school, you are going to learn something pretty quickly… nobody will care very much who you were in high school.  They won’t care if you were the shy one, the popular one, the star athlete, or the sluffer.  It is a new chapter and it is yours to write as you go along.  Do not sell yourself short because you made some mistakes in the past.  And do not think that the world owes you something because you were a high school “legend.”  You decide who you want to be, and be it.  Here is some direct advice from Alma the Younger, “I swear unto you, that inasmuch as you shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.”  To read the entire “commencement speech” of Alma the Younger, see Alma 36.