Last year, I was asked by one of our seniors to offer advice to graduating seniors about how to successfully launch post-Denison. I had fun writing it and then published it in the alumni magazine. Then we decided to do something fun this fall. As I was traveling for the college, I started meeting with Denisonians who have graduated since I arrived at Denison to hear about their post-Denison journeys.
Based on their stories, advice and reflections, here is my advice to this year’s graduating seniors.
The first is to use your liberal arts education to guide your everyday life.
Be critical thinkers who understand problems and issues in their complexity. This faculty taught you how to use intellectual frameworks, reason and data to better understand the world around you and to always be seeking knowledge and truth.
As you engage in critical thinking also be a creative problem solvers. Numerous alumni pointed out that the world does not need more cynicism or nihilism. It needs optimistic and forward-looking thinkers who can innovate and find paths forward, especially around problems that seem intractable. Be those optimistic, forward-looking thinkers.
Use the powerful ability to weave critical thinking and creating problem solving together to communicate effective, especially to people who see the world differently than you. So many Denison alumni, old and young, remarked to me how Denison taught them to write and communicate. This faculty gave you that gift, use it to weave words together so that others can understand your points of view. Also use your liberal arts education to listen and hear what others are saying so we can learn from each other. The point is never to win an argument but rather to exchange ideas so that better ideas and insights can emerge.
And practice intellectual humility: You have developed the ability to walk through life as a lifelong learner. Liberal arts graduates understand that they might be wrong. Hence, they are the people who are always seeking out alternative views, facts, and experiences.
As you use these liberal arts skills, also embrace liberal arts values: a commitment to hard work, ethics, empathy, curiosity, perseverance, humor, and an appreciation that we are part of things that are larger than ourselves.
Second, remember that habits are better predictors of life than goals. Yes, my second piece of advice comes from Denison alumnus, James Clear, who used his liberal arts education to understand how people can lead great lives.
James urges us to understand that anybody can have goals, but our lives are shaped by our habits. He writes, “Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits. What you repeatedly do ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray.”
One of his most profound observations is that people do not rise to the level of their goals, but rather, we tend to fall to the level of our habits.
Last year, I encouraged the members of the Class of 2024 to read James’ book, Atomic Habits, and then find three habits you want to improve. One alum who took me up on the challenge told me it was the best decision he made during his first year post-Denison. Try it and let me know how it works for you.
Third, develop healthy relationships. If you get the relationships in your life right, everything else will fall into place. You have just spent four years on a campus that is defined by relationships. Hopefully, one of the things you learned at Denison is what a healthy relationship does and does not look like. Nurture your Denison friendships so they can continue to shape your life.
Develop relationships with people who bring out the best in you. Shed toxic people. One alumnus said to me, “At Denison, I learned how to surround myself with people who are curious, grateful, and positive.”
Be the one who keeps your Denison crew connected. I heard so many heartwarming stories this year about the way Denison friendships are anchoring the lives of our recent alumni. Nurture those friendships and let them shape your life.
Fourth, have your eye on the future, but don’t fixate on it. Instead, be present in every moment and be performance-oriented and, as you do this, have a sense of humor about failure. Always focus your time and attention on enjoying the present moment, learning from that moment, and performing at the highest level in that moment towards whatever you are trying to achieve.
So many alumni told stories about the first few year’s post-college having a mixture of great moments, hard moments, and uncertain moments. The alumni who are building the lives they want to live are embracing them all.
Remember, the stories we choose to tell ourselves about what is happening, are more important than what is actually happening. It is important, as one alum said to me, to “embrace the uncomfortable moments.” As they put it, “the new cities, new jobs, new goals, new social circles” are all growth opportunities.” We are back to a core liberal arts principle- replace fear with curiosity.
Fifth, careers only look linear backward; find a place to start and take it one step at a time. I probably heard more about this comment than anything that I have said during my time at Denison. What I said last year that seemed to resonate is that the best first job is the one you can get. Your first job is merely your first job. Find someplace to start and take it from there. My first three jobs were a disaster, but I learned from them, and my fourth got me on a path that I did not anticipate when I graduated from college that has shaped my life.
One recent alum said to me, “There is not a linear path to your early career. Expect to pivot between different jobs and sectors during the years following your undergraduate degree. Even jobs which do not seem completely ideal may open up pathways to future opportunities through the development of skills and connections. At the end of the day, there are many ways to craft a fulfilling life for yourself. It is not a one-size-fits-all equation or an exam question with a singular correct answer. Rather, embrace the years following your time at Denison to explore, have adventures, and invest in yourself on a personal and professional basis.”
Do this well, lean into your Denison network. Reach out to alumni who have interesting jobs. As one alumnus said, “not every chat will land you an interview or even a job referral, and that’s OK! Learning more about the kind of work out there through these interactions is an extremely productive way to spend your time.”
Lastly, and this is a nod to our graduation speaker — be a patron of the arts. In 2019, we opened the Eisner Center for the Performing Arts. We invested in the arts because the arts is where we find our humanity. Our alumni who stay active in the arts or who become patrons of the arts will lead more meaningful, richer and better lives.
I am so proud that we have Dee Dee Bridgewater with us today. First, Dee Dee is a friend of this college. Over the last few years, she has fallen in love with the spirit of this place and we have fallen in love with her. Anybody who loves Denison is a friend of mine. Second, Dee Dee has lived the liberal arts. She does not do one linear thing. She has leaned into and embraced her life in the way that I am encouraging you to do so today. She has been widely successful in lots of different ways. She has been a singer and also widely successful in theater. Others have produced for her and she has produced for herself. She has released albums in pop, funk, R&B. But most of all, in Jazz. Dee Dee has followed her passions and gone where the opportunities presented themselves.
But her true love is Jazz which is a liberal art. Jazz is driven by curiosity. It builds off what comes before it in expected and unexpected ways. It leans into, embraces and cherishes complexity and it is something done by those who know each other and sometimes by those who don’t.
We invested in the arts for a simple reason, because it enriches lives.
That is my advice: You get to be the architect of the life you want to live. Do so by using the Denison education you worked hard to receive. Develop good habits and nurture healthy relationships, starting with those you made at Denison. Be present in every moment and be performance-oriented. Find a job, and don’t worry if it is not the perfect job; it won’t be. Finally, stay curious, grateful, and positive.
The key is curiosity- Stay curious in everything you do and say yes to as many new opportunities as you can, you never know who you will meet or what door will open up!
One last comment. So far, I have offered advice on how Denison can help you build the life you want for yourself. There is a second part of the equation. We hope you will choose to build your life in ways that contributes to the world around you, however you define that.
I have spent my life committed to higher education because it matters. Education improves the lives of individuals and the health of families, communities and organizations.
Use your liberal arts education to be the critical thinkers and creative problems solvers the world needs. Use your ability to effectively communicate in ways that enlarges conversation and brings people together who have different views so we can harness the power of differences to create better paths forward.
Be the people who replace anger and fear with curiosity. Role model for others by walking through life with an open mind, intellectual humility and a quest for continual learning.
You are graduating out into an interconnected world that is changing quickly, where the opportunities and challenges are both deep and wide. The world needs liberal arts graduates who can lean into complexity, who understand connections, who can lead from a wise and ethical core, and who are committed to the common good. The world needs people who can connect and work with a wide range of people to do the work it takes to create and sustain healthy communities, institutions and organizations.
Be those people. That is a Denison tradition.
Lastly, I reached out to Denison alumnus Steve Carrell and asked him for some career advice. Here is what he offered to you, the Denison Class of 2025, as his advice:
“President Weinberg asked me to give him a quote for this speech. Something thoughtful, and wise. The best advice I can give to you is: don’t listen to anything Adam Weinberg tells you… except if he tells you this: Kindness is underrated. Decency is the antidote to hatred, and generosity of the heart will never go out of style.”
I want to end with a request — stay connected and committed to this college. Come back for your reunions. Put a Denison coffee mug on your desk at work, a bumper sticker on your car, and a Denison pennant on your refrigerator at home. You are great people, and we want the world to know you are Denisonians. Identify yourself so other members of our extended family can do the same.
