Communication Graduation Day in University of Illinois.

I was at a graduation yesterday in U of I, Champagne, Urbana where Communication students received their diplomas after four years of college. The ceremony was moving and the speaches given by the students and some alumni was very revealing. At this event I learned the fears and anxieties some of these students feel as they prepare to go out into the real world, the present economic state of the country adding to their anxieties.

At this commencement ceremony was an alumni who played basketball for 13 years and is n0w a sports correspondent for ESPN. He encouraged the students to believe in themselves, and let passion drive anything or career choice they make. He concluded his speech with an African adage about the lion and the antelope, who both had to run faster than the other to stay alive. The lesson from the adage is that, it doesn't matter who is the strongest or the fastest out there, the point is each has to run faster in order to stay alive.

What he meant was that every student should work harder, stronger, and smarter in order to stay alive in the most competitive career which he or she chooses. After listening to him speak, I realized that I was meant to hear that speech to remind me of the things I need to do to "stay alive" in the Journalism world.

Please stay tuned for the video of this event and I hope it will be useful to all communication students who see it.