The third cup 5/18

Hi neighbors. This is the month when people receive degrees or diplomas to indicate their graduation from some field of study. Graduation is a word of various meanings and I thought it might interest people to think about this while sipping their coffee and sorting their options. Although graduation can mean a completion of sorts, the word also indicates a series of steps in larger measurement. We see this in a graduated ruler or container for liquid like a measuring cup. This doesn't mean, of course, that your brain is only partially full or partially empty when you receive your diploma and move your tassel to the other side of your flat cap. But I think the terms are more alike than different. We don't just "get a diploma" in one fell swoop. We earn it, one step at a time. From preschool; we take one facet of our education each year. As the years pass we add to our composite of knowledge. To "pass" from one grade to another means we have reached another milestone toward graduation of high school. Graduation from high school is only one large mark on our "graduated" cup of life. Still ahead are another 80 percent of life! There are still many marks on the side of the cup, measurements of achievements we have yet to reach. The ceremony involves more than robes and hats and diplomas. Does it mean you're now independent? Most high school students can't wait to get out of high school; but not necessarily to get out on their own. For economic reasons, many find they cannot support themselves without their family's continued help. A recent poll I read indicated that a large percentage of Americans don't consider their children "independent" until age 26! Mostly due to the costs of sending them to college. Has the emphasis on going to college created a society of dependents? Does the plea "I'm still in school" signify "I'm still a dependent?" It just seems odd to me that when nature is telling us children are maturing at an earlier age (puberty can start as early as nine years old) -- social and economic pressures are telling us they can't survive alone as mature adults the first third of their lives. I wonder what that says about their emotional maturity? Is society going in a good direction; or hampering the development of our future leaders by keeping them dependent and myopic on their career choices? I spoke with a professional a while back who indicated she felt college students should actually work in their chosen field for a while before completing their academic studies. She felt this would help them understand what was involved in the actual job. We've all known people who did well in school and couldn't carry that success rate over into the real world. Maybe graduates of any level should work a while -- be in the world independently -- before continuing their education. Some feel they will then not go to college at all because they get involved with work; often marry and have children -- in other words -- become adults. What's wrong with that? Isn't living part of the curriculum? When they decide they want a degree, they will get it. People do work and go to college while raising their family. Those who get degrees early often decide they hate their chosen jobs and go back to college at ages 35 through 45 for new career training. If they just want new challenges, that's great! If they suddenly feel trapped, maybe they should have waited for a little more maturity before choosing a degree goal. Maybe if degrees were given for various cycles of life lived successfully, people wouldn't feel they need a degree under their belt to start living. Isn't it odd that academia is the only area in life that offers a diploma for graduating from one cycle in life to another? Shouldn't parents get a psychology degree for raising children that don't turn into mass murderers? Or a business degree for staying employed 40 years and paying off the mortgage? How about a health sciences degree for living to be 90? If we vote at every election; can't we qualify for a political science degree? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't go to college! I strongly feel a college degree is important. But don't feel you must have a doctorate to know what you want out of life. Until the next time friends remember; graduation at any level isn't a trophy, it's a tool. You have to decide when and how to use it.