Congratulations are in order for so many high school and University students that are about to be recognized for the amazing accomplishment of finishing their schooling and getting ready to take that next step of their lives. \u00a0To each of them I would give the following advice:<\/p>\n
\u201cGo forth and set the world on fire.\u201d<\/span> \u2013 St. Ignatius of Loyola<\/p>\n I still remember exactly how I felt at my own High School graduation. It was 1989 and my hair was literally HUGE (no making fun \u2013 it was totally in style back then!). I had on a blue sundress with a royal blue cap and gown with a bright yellow tassel.\u00a0 I still remember what I felt walking across that stage, hearing my name called out, and receiving my diploma. I remember the fear and trepidation I felt of knowing a familiar chapter of my life was coming to an end and a totally unfamiliar chapter was about to begin…it was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.<\/p>\n I even remember the talk our valedictorian gave that day.\u00a0 They read the words of a Rod Stewart song called\u00a0 “Forever Young” and the words were and are the perfect message for all\u00a0 of those graduating:<\/p>\n May the good Lord be with you And may you grow to be proud Be courageous and be brave May good fortune be with you And may you never love in vain And when you finally fly away But whatever road you choose My daughter-in-law Alexis graduates from Utah Valley University this week and I am SO PROUD of her and so happy to be her second Mama!\u00a0 Congratulations to Alexis and all the other graduates!<\/p>\n ~Amy Rees Anderson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Congratulations are in order for so many high school and University students that are about to be recognized for the amazing accomplishment of finishing their schooling and getting ready to take that next step of their lives. \u00a0To each of them I would give the following advice: \u201cGo forth and set the world on fire.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17439,17436,9674,7026,395,17441,13323,4255,17427,7059,17433,17434,17438,4232,17445,4234,4227,13338,1163,17428,17432,17430,17442,17435,17440,270,13319,4241,17444,17443,17437,16256,3360,196,1074,1073,17431,17446,17429,4243],"class_list":["post-9177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-17439","tag-advice-for-life","tag-alexis-anderson","tag-alexis-tebbs","tag-amy-rees-anderson","tag-big-hair","tag-college-graduate","tag-commencement","tag-commencement-ceremony","tag-daughter-in-law","tag-dignified-and-true","tag-do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-done-to-you","tag-ending-this-chapter","tag-forever-young","tag-go-forth-and-set-the-world-on-fire","tag-golden-rule","tag-graduation","tag-graduation-ceremony","tag-heaven","tag-high-school-graduation","tag-in-my-heart-you-will-remain","tag-may-good-fortune-be-with-you","tag-may-the-good-lord-be-with-you","tag-may-you-grow-to-be-proud","tag-my-high-school-graduation","tag-prince","tag-proud-mama","tag-rod-stewart","tag-set-the-world-on-fire","tag-st-ignatius-of-loyola","tag-starting-a-new-chapter","tag-the-80s","tag-university","tag-utah","tag-utah-valley-university","tag-uvu","tag-vagabond","tag-valedictorian","tag-whatever-road-you-choose","tag-win-or-lose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9209,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions\/9209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDown every road you roam
\nAnd may sunshine and happiness
\nsurround you when you’re far from home<\/p>\n
\nDignified and true
\nAnd do unto others
\nAs you would have done to you<\/p>\n
\nAnd in my heart you’ll always stay
\nForever Young, Forever Young
\nForever Young, Forever Young<\/p>\n
\nMay your guiding light be strong
\nBuild a stairway to heaven
\nwith a prince or a vagabond<\/p>\n
\nand in my heart you will remain
\nForever Young, Forever Young
\nForever Young, Forever Young<\/p>\n
\nI’ll be hoping that I served you well
\nFor all the wisdom of a lifetime
\nNo one can ever tell<\/p>\n
\nI’m right behind you, win or lose
\nForever Young, Forever Young
\nForever Young ,Forever Young<\/p>\n