everybody coming out and just kind of
get a chance to sort of talk about their
passions it’s kind of nice um I want to
talk to you about getting a degree
actually I want to talk to you about
your degree but I don’t just want to
talk to you I want to talk to everybody
the administrators the advisors your
support network probably your parents
because the simple fact is you’re
getting the wrong one now I’m not saying
that to be pejorative I’m not saying
that to be insulted I’m saying that
because that’s what the numbers tell us
there’s been a raft of research that’s
been done it all sort of arrives at the
same point and what that point is is
that within five years of graduating
sixty percent of you certainly better
than half will not be employed in
whatever it is you studied if you’ve
gone into law you won’t be a lawyer if
you’ve gone into music you won’t be a
musician if you’ve got into education
you won’t be a teacher now there is some
wiggle room it depends on what your
actual discipline is but that trend
continues and it continues out to about
a decade and at a decade it finally
levels off and what it tells us is is
that a decade out sixty-six percent two
out of three of you will not be employed
in whatever you studied and that’s kind
of a damning thing because let’s be
honest couch is kind of expensive it’s
kind of expensive it’s about twenty-five
to fifty thousand dollars now once again
there’s some wiggle room in that I know
depends on whether we’re talking about
in-state or out-of-state it depends on
whether we’re talking about private
versus public college on average this
next year when we graduate 1.9 billion
people that’s just this coming spring
they are going to have an average debt
load of about thirty thousand dollars to
pay for their degree the good news is
that’s all in right that’s that’s
tuition and room and board and books and
travel a little bit of miscellaneous
expense thrown it all in it’s about 30
grand that’s the average benchmark now
it seems at this point that I kind of
have a downer on getting a college
degree and I don’t I actually advocate
you do this
a college professor actually believe it
or not right I advocate you getting it
and I do that for one reason which sort
of comes in and mixes up this discussion
that we’ve had just a little bit that
reason is the single largest indicator
as to how well you will do in life how
much money you make how well you rate
your job a host of quality of life
metrics is single largest indicators if
you get that piece of paper or not and
that’s by the way not you versus
somebody else that’s over it you know
east coast or west coast somebody else
know that you versus every other
iteration of you you with a high school
diploma you with a GED you with an
undergrad even the break between
undergrad and postgraduate degrees none
is so significant as if you just get
that slip of paper and that can only
lead us to one conclusion it doesn’t
matter it doesn’t matter what you get it
doesn’t matter what you get it matters
that you get see the world that you’re
stepping into is different from what
those of us that are the status quo what
we are preparing you for and I’d like to
change that let me give you a little bit
of an example on that right see what we
termed the greatest generation those
people that came of age in the 30s and
40s and sort of hit their professional
stride through the 50s 60s and 70s they
could expect to change jobs twice on
average two point three times if you’re
really sort of on the numbers they could
expect to change jobs twice in their
professional career linkedin did a
survey Millennials those are people that
came of age in the 90s and knots and are
currently in the workplace by the time
they’re 32 will have changed jobs four
times most of them with a career change
at each job this is a world that is
inconceivable to the people that have
set the system in motion
to the institution’s you are now
beholden to and what I’m trying to tell
you is i can tell you two things about
the world you’re stepping into we as a
planet are addicted to technology we
just are right that phone in your pocket
I don’t think I’m throwing stones
because by god I love mine because of
that we’re a skills-based economy if you
have an itch if you have a skill you
will have a job and that job doesn’t
have to make sense to those that are
teaching you that cell phone in your
pocket has removed so many barriers to
entry gives you so much information
gives you so much opportunity that once
again those that put the system in place
didn’t even account for and as someone
who prides themselves on living a life
that let’s be honest wasn’t very linear
I think I can speak to this fact see
when I was an undergrad I was given a
little bit of advice I was always told
don’t follow your passion follow what
makes sense as have you don’t follow
your passion follow what makes sense and
so I was always a double major now I
knew what I wanted to do I wanted to
make action movies like Jackie Chan once
again there were some barriers to entry
for that I don’t speak Chinese I don’t
make movies I don’t take martial arts
and I’m not into gymnastics but other
than that I knew exactly what I wanted
to do so I always was a double major
that first one was the logical one and
the second one was the passion project
for me see the first one was there when
the second one didn’t line up and so
over the course of my undergraduate
degree I was a math major and an
accounting economics and accounting and
education and philosophy and psychology
and creative writing and encode you can
see where the sweat right logic doesn’t
really apply to passion and that’s why I
because you need something to fall back
on when med school doesn’t line up
fortunately it was there i took that
theater degree and i ran away and join
the army and i spent several years of my
life jumping out of airplanes putting my
communication skills to good use and
when I got done with that gig I ran away
and join the circus for the last math
two decades or so I’ve traveled the
world flying people on wires for a
living and from the outside looking in
that career path doesn’t really make
sense but from the inside looking out
that career path really doesn’t make
sense I don’t try and explain it I just
did it and that’s what i want to put
onto your shoulders today you have a
responsibility as do we we that are the
status quo that are in charge of the
institutions of higher learning we have
a responsibility to prepare you for the
world you are stepping into it might not
necessarily make sense to us but it
doesn’t have to you by the way have a
responsibility in this dialogue you have
to play an active part as well because
and I’ll paraphrase Will Rogers even if
you’re on the right track you’re going
to get run over if you just sit down and
wait long enough good luck with it I’m
bill all good day [Applause]