My 2025 Commencement Speech

6/9/2025

Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

My 2025 Commencement Speech

The commencement ceremonies are mostly over, capping what for some students has been a turbulent year.

But graduates from sea to shining sea will nonetheless now be on their way to the next chapters of their lives,

...after having heard from keynote speakers many words of counsel, insight and encouragement to hopefully help them along their way.
And so the time has come for me to add, as I do every year, a few more hopefully helpful words of worldly wisdom and advice that might not have been covered by the keynote speakers.
And so here it is, my 2025 Commencement Speech:

1. If you sprinkle when you tinkle please be sweet and wipe the seat.

2. Remember that you don't always need to have the last word.

3. When adding eggs to a recipe, crack each egg into a separate bowl before adding it to the mix.
That way if you happen to get a rotten egg (and you'll know immediately if it's rotten) you won't lose the whole mixture.

4. If a bit of egg shell falls into your mix, the easiest way to scoop it out is with an egg shell.

5. If you ever intentionally bully, are mean to, or make fun of another person, trust me, some day you'll regret it. Unless you're a Donald Trump. Which I pray you aren't.

6. Just show up for work on time every day, follow instructions as you're told to, be dependable, don't cut corners, and don't cause any drama and you'll be considered an exemplary employee.

7. Don't gift people with a live animal,

...or a live plant.

8. If you're a fan of Magic Shell ice cream topping, it also works on fruit right from the refrigerator.

9. You can never overdo "Thank You," so say it a lot, even for the little things. Especially to the people you're closest to and might fall into taking for granted. But don't take them for granted - take notice of the little, ordinary everyday helpful things they do and always thank them.

10. And put a little sugar on your thank yous, as in: Thank you, you're so kind; Thank you, appreciate you; Thank you, that was so considerate of you, etc.

11. Cut up used balloons and use them for wrapping paper.

12. To cut down on plastic container use, use detergent sheets in your laundry instead of liquid detergent or pods. Believe me, these sheets work fine.

13. To avoid losing track of where you parked your car, after you've parked take a moment to be mindful: look around, pick out some landmarks: a tree, a row number, something nearby to look for. Say these reminders out loud before you leave.

14. Don't grab the conversation ball and refuse to pass it around. Be aware of how long you're talking, and cut your supremely interesting story short if need be.