An Open Letter to the Class of 2018

Dear Graduates,

Congratulations on this significant milestone in your life. I remember when I graduated in 1998, 20 years ago, how I could not wait for this day to come. Our Senior slogan at the time was “We laughed when they told us we would not want to leave … We cried when they made us.” That may or may not resonate with you as you prepare to leave your classmates and friends, many of whom you have spent years of your life with, to start the new journey that awaits you.

Fortunately, in today’s socially connected world it will be much easier for you to maintain and build those relationships, and if there is one word of advice I can give you, it would be to choose those relationships wisely, and to invest in them.

If I could go back in time and give my 18-year-old self some words of wisdom, knowing what I know now, here is what I would say…

• Be Courageous.
• Find your purpose and pursue it promptly and passionately. Don't wait.
• Believe in others and genuinely serve them. Be other's focused.
• Do not doubt your abilities or your capabilities. Raise the bar for yourself.
• Challenge your mistakes, own them, do not criticize yourself or blame others. Own it, learn from it, and move on.
• Seek feedback from those who have achieved and believe in you, and apply it to your life right away.
• Try, fail, adjust, and try again. Fail Forward.
• Communicate that which you want to say with the conviction you have for what you are saying.
• Fix your eyes forward, and keep one hand back to help lift others behind you.
• There is no limit to the impact that you can make or to what you can achieve, if you don't care who gets the credit.
• The greatest achievement of all is not what you gain or accomplish for yourself, but who you become in the process.
• Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly. (Micah 6:8)

I hope these words encourage you, and I wish all the very best for you, your future, and the many lives you will impact!

I believe in you, your purpose, and in your potential,

Davin J. Salvagno