What if I was a graduation speaker?

The school year is over and the class of 2014 - whereever they went to school - has since graduated. Many have listened to the messages of their commencement speaker. I've always imagined myself as a commencment speaker, but what would I say.

My last semester at Morehouse College I took a public speaking course  and our last assignment was the formal speech. It was in fact written with myself in mind, that is what if someone gave the speech that I gave in class to students such as myself back then.

Well who knows, but a pep-talk is never a bad thing. Indeed that was the basic title of my speech. At this point I'm too lazy to pull it out of my files and recite it for you. What can be done is that the rough speech is about me encouraging students to seek help when possible as to figure out what you can do with your lives. It's something that I've been entirely too proud to do myself too often.

When it was time to graduate high school I wasn't sure what was next. College was the next logical step but I had little idea and wasn't seeking much information on that path. My interest even before graduating 8th grade at Bennett School was the military, however, my parents didn't encourage that path due to my good grades at Harlan High School.

The problem was I was never entirely confident in those grades because I achieved them too easily back then. I was never an honor roll student in elementary school and while fortunes do change if you weren't already a student who often achieved high marks how does one overnight get high marks at the next stage of their educational careers?

All the same, the message to students is always consider the future. Don't freak out, and always remember there are people out there who will help you along the way. The key is to reach out to them if you need a nudge in the right direction. That was a message I figured out late, but no matter where you are in life you will need help along the way.

Man of Morehouse, Civil War re-enactor

Marvin Greer, center, during a recent re-enactment

A history major re-enacting battles of the Civil War is certainly worth an A for how serious he is. Found this story via Morehouse College's newscenter:

There are many weekends when senior history major Marvin Greer is stepping back into time.

He spends days on Civil War battlefields portraying soldiers – and sometimes slaves – as a Civil War re-enactor. It’s a hobby the Atlanta resident admits isn’t very popular among many of the African Americans he knows.

“I do get stares sometimes,” Greer said. “But I do it to honor my ancestors. I had ancestors who fought in the Civil War, obviously for the Union. I do it because I think I’m telling their story, a story that is often never told.”

It’s something Greer has been interested in since elementary school, when his fifth grade class did a mock battle of Gettysburg and later watched the movies “Glory” and “Gettysburg.”

“That really piqued my interest in African Americans in the Civil War,” he said.

This story is worth sharing, and good for him to bringing to life one of the more traumatic events of American history. Read the whole thing!

BTW, I consider myself a fan of films Glory & Gettysburg and sadly have not seen either film in years. In fact it seemed as if one while I couldn't get away from Gettysburg as it always seemed to be on TNT on either Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day or Veteran's Day. Time to either download them or buy them on DVD/Blue Ray.

21 Dogs That Have No Idea How Big They Are

You know, I really like dogs and aspire to own one in the future. Some of the dogs in this set of pics seem like they're regular size, but most of them seemed very photoshopped. Is this serious?

More than likely this is just a humor based meme and not taken very seriously. :P

Black Enterprise: Morehouse College President Talks ‘Education Crisis’ Facing Young Black Men

I'm sorry about missing this article from March 2014. Black Enterprise magazine interviewed the President of Morehouse College Dr. John S. Wilson. He discusses the education crisis amongst Black males:

BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke to Dr. Wilson about the crisis that faces young black men and what role HBCUs like Morehouse can fill to change the direction. Here’s what he had to say:

When you speak of the cradle-to-prison pipeline, what are some of the things that can be done?

The first thing we have to do is recognize that it’s a very serious issue—some would call it a crisis—and something needs to be done. You may think that goes without saying but it’s not. There’s a numbness that people in this country—black and white and around the world—have to what’s going on with the African American male. If other groups had the kind of educational data profile that the African American male has, it would be nothing short of a crisis. But for some reason, too many people find it tolerable or natural in some way.

So, I think recognizing that it is a critical issue that goes to the productivity and security of this country is step one. Step two is developing a sense of urgency once you recognize it; and step three is organizing to get better data about it and exchange a best practices designed to do something about the challenge. In the midst of all that, we need what we haven’t had and that’s a shining beacon on the hill—an institution that’s recognized worldwide as the destination of choice for men in general and in particular African American men and that’s Morehouse College.

What can be done on a personal level?

First, I think the steps that I outlined are relevant for individuals as well as institutions. Number two, parents can address the cycle by ensuring that their sons are exceptions to the general rule. And even if you’re not a parent, there are many organizations that care about this issue and you can align yourself with them and you can become involved— politically and otherwise.

I was very pleased that the President of the United States announced a “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative designed to get at this. I think some people have recognized that. I think the President is making an attempt to sound an alarm that there is a crisis.

It's worth reading the whole interview although it seems relatively short and there are two other published questions that Dr. Wilson was asked. What more do we need to do to keep our young men out of jail and keep them in school?

While I'm sure Dr. Wilson and others want to see more young men go on to achieve that undergrad degrees, what can we do to ensure our young men will achieve their high school diplomas?

Ask a Manager: How do I know if I did well in an interview?

Question #2 over at Ask a Manager. A person wants to know how they know if they did well in an interview. Of course the blogger's answer over there is there no way to truly know and that if you think you did well you may still not get the job or you might do bad and still get the job. It's best to read her answer to that question.

I did use to have an easy answer to this question. Again I've had interviews such as this one I wrote about earlier this year where I thought the interview went great but still didn't get the job. Although in that case it was still a dodged bullet.

Still, I think it's easy to gauge from interviewers whether or not they like you. Unfortunately it's still hard to say whether or not they'll offer you the job. It seems in some of the comments over at Ask a Manager you may get an offer and the employer could always change their mind.

These days, however, only speaking from my experience it seems I'm wary of the statement that they're continuing to interview other candidates. Now again this probably isn't something you should consider too much of because it's only fair if there are other candidates lined up. Besides the odds may still be in your favor or it may not.

BTW, for additional reading another link was offered with Ask a Manager's response. If you can't help but consider your chances for getting the job this post should help you keep things in perspective. One answer to that is even if you're sure you got the job continue applying until someone gives you a solid job offer.

The weather

On my Instagram account I have the tendency to post screencaps of the temperature and weather radar. Sometimes because it's of interest and mainly because I want to show the weather here in Chicago at any given time. Besides I've always been interested in the weather.

I used to say warmer weather is just around the corner and now it's here. In fact summer is this month, we've had a very harsh winter this year with temps going often below 0 that I'm sure many of us were wondering if the winter is over. Well it is over and many of us have survived.

Now we may be dealing with higher food costs because of this. Heh, this is where I only wish I had a better grasp of economics and the many forces that affect an economy. Of course there are probably other after-effects of this past winter to be concerned about.

In any event, summer is around the corner and unfortunately here in Chicago warmer weather means more crime because local headlines are already showing the violent incidents occurring in my fair city. While we should always remain safe, I'm still glad that this harsh winter is behind us. May there be peace during the course of this summer!