An Open Letter to the Class of 2020
We asked RecSports alumni and professional staff to share their best piece of advice for this year’s graduating class. Here’s what they had to say.
Dear Class of 2020,
Congratulations on your graduation from The University of Texas at Austin!
We know that your UT experience has concluded in a way that you would have never envisioned and as you start your journey beyond the Forty Acres, the world also looks a little different.
Even with the uncertainties around us, know that you are prepared to navigate successfully whatever bumps in the road you encounter. You have demonstrated the skills essential to success. Among them: how to work hard and smart, how to work well with others, how to lead and how to have fun while taking care of business.
Find your passions and pursue them with your best effort and with integrity, ever grateful for your blessings. Have the courage to lead wisely for the benefit of others.
Be in the moment and know the moments go fast. If it’s a good moment, relish it and enjoy every second. If it’s a not so good moment, it will pass…sooner than you realize. Be patient with yourself and know everything has a season.
Making decisions is tough! Moments of clarity or final certainty are rare, so use your resources, do all the research, and ask your heart and mind for direction. Make the decision and commit to it 100%. If you always include the “Triangle of Leadership” in your decision making process — Common Sense, Logical Analysis, Concern for People — then you will be on the right track and others will look to you for those decisions!
Life is more than just the job you do. Create balance in your life by carefully prioritizing your family, friends, work, hobbies, and free time in a way that maximizes your joy and fulfillment.
The biggest investment you’ll make in your life is in other people. There aren’t many things you can control in life, but you can control who you invite into your space; choose your inner circle wisely. Make time to create strong connections with people and take the time to spend quality interactions and experiences with those people.
Find a mentor you connect with to help you continue to learn and grow.
Trust is the most important building block for professional relationships. It’s a little bit easier to initially earn than to keep. Much like a fitness program, if you don’t put in good work every day (even if it’s just a little) then you lose all the progress you’ve made and have to start over from scratch. As time goes by, it gets harder and harder to earn and keep trust. Start now and stick with it!
Get up, dress up and show up. Punctuality, presentation and a ready-to-go attitude show who you are and that you care.
Trust the process. The path isn’t always linear, but it’s worth it.
Focus on what is in your control, and do it really well. Everything else will fall in line.
Be humble. Learn something from every situation you are put in and every person you come in contact with.
Be honest. Honesty is so important in our day. Couple that with hard work and you will be a winner.
Invest in experiences. Save for and take your dream vacation, take the time to visit people who are important to you, advocate for yourself to attend a conference, find things that you are passionate about and learn as much as you can about them.
Be prepared to apply what you have learned outside of the classroom, especially this past semester, to all aspects of your life.
Try to always keep an open mind and an open heart. This will help you to see life’s inevitable curve balls as opportunities, not obstacles.
Experiencing adversity is a chance to reinvent yourself to be better positioned for the next time it tries to catch you off guard. Take the lessons of this difficult situation and help shape a more resilient and responsive world for the future.
Find a way to be grateful, now more than ever (but really, at any time). Gratefulness is controlled by you, no matter how big or small, and can provide a positive view in any position you are in.
Perspective matters. You are graduating in remarkable times that are transformative in nature. The world is different and our future is dependent on you looking at what is possible rather than focusing on what was ordinary. So be extraordinary.
Stay positive, be kind, never forget where you’ve come from and give back to your community and your university whenever possible.
And last but not least, as we like to say: What Starts Here Changes the World, and the world could sure use a little of that Longhorn impact now more than ever.
Hook ‘em,
Your RecSports Family
