Keynote Speakers And Graduation Ceremonies At University
Graduation ceremonies at university are very proud moments for those receiving their degree and the parents or friends who accompany them. The work put in to achieving a degree means walking into a successful career, job prospects that a non-graduate could have or a life changing experience at the very least. The ceremony should celebrate the achievements of the attendees, and well chosen keynote speakers are one of the best ways that this can be done.
Now this may sound like snobbery, but I do not believe that a keynote speaker should be invited to speak at a graduation ceremony if they have not experienced the same academic life as those receiving their degree. Going straight into a job after leaving school is a life completely different than if you choose to go to university for three or four years, and keynote speakers will not be able to relate with their audience if they have not gone through the same experiences.
University life makes you more independent. You are faced with situation where you might be forced to live with people you do not get along with, you have to make new sets of friends and you have to be financially organised to be able to budget your loan or get a part time job to help with living costs. All of these things can only be learnt whilst at university.
When you decide to go into a proper job straight after leaving school, most people still live with their parents for a few months, even years and they have their washing done for them and meals cooked, you have a stable wage which university students do not have and if you do move out you choose the people you are living with. Because unlike the many preconceptions about university students, the majority do not have financial help from their parents, they do it by themselves.
So when it comes to the time when graduation organisers are planning the day, the keynote speakers should be checked to see if they have been to university. Otherwise their audience will be given a speech that has not resonance with their own lives for the past three years.
Tags: celebrity appearances, celebrity speakers, graduation, keynote speakers, university events