By Daniel Barnes

I hate graduations.

It’s that time of year. Chances are that recently many of you have gone through some pomp and circumstance rituals to celebrate for yourself, your kids, nieces, or someone else who means a great deal to you.

Now, why do I hate them? Do I really hate them? Well, no, but this is a short snappy finance column. I need to say something to get your attention, don’t I?

In actuality, it’s the backward-looking focus of graduation events that annoys me. “They” tell you it’s about what you have done. Don’t believe it.

That’s not it. And the requiems for the halcyon days just passed and alleged “best days of your life” just make me want to throw up. And not one in ten of us remember the speeches (though we may recall how we felt at the time).

My knee-jerk reaction aside and upon a modicum of reflection, I do believe graduations have a purpose. Graduations are a celebration to you, the graduate! Not of your past, but of your future.

Graduations ought to be our celebration with you, about what you have learned about yourself and what you will do in your future. Your journey of self-discovery is what we celebrate with you. Not for what you have done, but to what you will do.

Graduates, feel proud if you have applied yourself — or not, but in the process come to know yourself a bit better. For productive achievement is the output of a life well-learned, well-examined, and even well-failed. Graduations, of course, are also for those of us not graduating.

They spur our own reflection for what we have done and what we will or ought to do. Why the fuss then? It’s an excuse for a party and a justification for the tuition and other expenses. The party is for your elders and friends to share with you. Just don’t confuse the needs of your parents with the celebration of what you’ve learned for yourself.

Graduates, in your future no one is going to care about how you performed in the past, what grades you got in algebra, not even what honors you’ve achieved. They will care about how you are as a person, who you are as a person. So today, graduates, we honor you and your journey ahead.

Barnes Capital is a Registered Investment Advisor located at in downtown Lafayette. With RB Capital Management, Barnes Capital develops custom tailored portfolios for its clients. Specialized in retirement income portfolios, financial planning in an integral part of our process. Call 925-284-3503.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 3:25 am and is filed under Monthly Column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.