From references to the West Wing to cultural theorist Stuart Hall and “Finding Nemo,” speakers opted for variety Friday in dishing out inspiration to master’s and doctoral students graduating from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
For those who couldn’t dash through the drizzle to the Smith Center, here are five pieces of advice that assistant professor of media and public affairs David Karpf and student speaker Maggie Unverzagt Goddard shared with the graduates.
1. Karpf: “Get more sleep.”
Karpf said when he attended graduate school, he strongly believed the less sleep he had, the more productive he would be. Today, he touted the benefits of a good night’s sleep, suggesting students aim for 25 percent more hours of rest.
“If you wake up rested, you’ll do better in work in the morning. And all of us are going into careers that require us to think creatively, and creativity demands a rested mind,” he said.
2. Karpf: “Take time to celebrate.”
Karpf urged students to revel in their success rather than worry about the next step.
“This is a real accomplishment what you’ve got here, so take the weekend to celebrate with your friends and family and celebrate what you’ve accomplished because we don’t celebrate enough, and that’s a bad habit,” he said.
3. Think “Finding Nemo”
Goddard opened her speech by describing the last scene of the popular Disney film. As he floats in the ocean, trapped inside a plastic bag after escaping from a dentist’s office, one of the fish asks, “Now what?”
She said the line is a question every recent graduate asks him or herself as he or she moves past college. Now, she argued, is the time to answer that question by taking knowledge from textbooks and lectures and applying it to a career.
4. Follow President Bartlet’s advice
Channelling The West Wing’s fictional U.S. president, Goddard followed up the “Finding Nemo” quote with another question: “What’s next?”
Drawing on her American Studies background, Goddard reflected on the diplomas she and her classmates were about to receive.
“The diploma acts as a symbol, not of an end, but an acquisition of tools to explore the world around us,” she said.
5. “Theory is always a detour on the way to something more important.”
Quoting cultural theorist Stuart Hall, Goddard said those words should remind students of the tools they need to analyze social and cultural challenges lying ahead.
“Theory allows us to walk through a problem, understand its contours and challenges,” she said. “Through theory, we can cleave new paths, but we must stay close to the road.”
