A Word of Advice to the Young

On the occasion of her graduation from high school, I provided a friend with some advice that I a) wish other people had given me or b) am really glad I heeded.

I read it to the assembled team of Ms. Stephanie, Joshua William Gelb, and Juddrigar Eccles Hardy VI, and they said that it should be compulsory advice for all recent graduates of high school. WHICH IS NICE OF THEM.

But in the interest of sharing it with upwards of four (4) more people, I decided to post it here.

-Study abroad. Just do it. There is no excuse to not do it. Just do it. For real. Pick someplace and go. It doesn’t matter where. Uzbekistan. Canada. Whatever.
-Do you have a meal-plan? Use the meal-plan. It will not seem as exciting as all of the one trillion amazing restaurants in Brooklyn, but when you don’t have it you will really, really miss it.
-Take art history. Let me repeat that, somewhat louder: TAKE ART HISTORY.
-Meet people. Meet as many people as possible. Hang out with them. Date them. Throw things at them. Whatever. There’s no better way to gain empathy than to just BE with lots and lots of different types of people. And empathy’s probably the greatest thing.
-Everybody you will be at school with was the star of their high school. They’re all going to be really good. YOU ARE ALSO REALLY GOOD. There’s a reason you’re there. Don’t forget this.
-It turns out cooking simple food is pretty simple. And will save you lots of money, which will suddenly become a thing you need to care about and also something you will HATE. Learn to cook some stuff. And cook it.
-You are going to live with people, which means you need to clean up after yourself. For real. I swear to the holy FSM I wish somebody had made this clear to me before I annoyed everyone I lived with for several years. You just CAN’T be a slob in shared space. People will want to stab you with spoons.
-Go. Watch. Theatre. See everything you can. While you’re a student it’s cheap as cheap. Go see everything.
-And every piece of art you see or experience, remember these three questions: What did you see? How did it make you feel? How did they do that?

So, there it is. Next time you start college, I expect you follow my every word.