10 thinkers, 200 words, one question: What’s your advice for San Diego’s college grads?
Noelle Green waves to family and friends before College of Arts and Letters graduation at SDSU in 2021.
Noelle Green waves to family and friends before College of Arts and Letters graduation at SDSU in 2021. (Eduardo Contreras /The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Wise words from some of San Diego’s best and brightest for San Diego’s best and brightest.
BY ROXANA POPESCU
MAY 25, 2023 4:38 PM PT
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What words of advice would you share with today’s college graduates?
The Union-Tribune asked this question to our region’s doctors, scientists, athletes, artists, givers, thinkers, doers and others.
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From how to protect your credit score to the meaning of life, here’s what these people, each of whose lives have been marked by effort, perseverance and accomplishment, had to say.
광고
(They are listed in alphabetical order, by the writer’s last name. Ordering things from A to Z is a grade school lesson that keeps paying dividends after college, apparently.)
A personal finance educator’s 30-second crash course in post-college money basics
If you haven’t already, the first step is to start a budget. No matter how much money you have, a budget will allow you to make the best use of it. The thing with budgets is that just having one won’t get the job done. Like textbooks, you have to highlight, circle, and make them your own. Above all, you must allow budgeting your money to become a habit.
You’re probably looking at the start of your career now. That new job usually comes with a pay bump from your college job. Don’t let lifestyle creep sneak up on you! Take this increase in pay as an opportunity to increase savings, start investing and eliminate any debt you might have accumulated while studying for finals.
Worrying about your GPA might now be a thing of the past, but there’s a different number you should keep track of now—your credit score. There’s much more to credit than this, but here are three easy tips to help you get started. First, don’t ever miss a payment. Second, this is the hardest one, don’t spend more than what you can pay back. Lastly, don’t apply for credit you don’t need.
—Felipe Arevalo, Community Outreach Coordinator at the San Diego Financial Literacy Center
From a career strategy maverick: be the captain of your career ship
Phil Blair, head of the Manpower Inc. employment agency.
Phil Blair, head of the Manpower Inc. employment agency.
(Peggy Peattie/Peggy Peattie)
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I hope that as a 2023 graduate you have been preparing for this day over the last four years. You have picked a major that you are excited about and a field in which you can, by your definition, excel.
Hopefully, you had internships in your field most summers and have networked in the field as best you can. It is now time to get serious about your first job selection. Know that this first job is not a lifelong commitment to this career field. The typical first job lasts about two years. Either it is not right for you long term and you, or a headhunter find a new job that better suits you, or your employer decides you are not a good match.
It is essential that you always be in control of your career. Do not let circumstances happen to you. Understand what your priorities are and what will make you happy and challenged long term. Is money a key motivator for you? There is nothing wrong with that if it is what makes you happy. Other important criteria are job location, travel or no travel, feeling the satisfaction of helping others in nonprofits or teaching, working hybrid or not and stress levels.
You will always have a career manager guiding you. That person needs to be you. You are responsible for you having a long and dynamic career.
—Phil Blair, the executive officer of Manpower Staffing and author of Job Won!
From a nonprofit sector pro: Find purpose and meaning through nonprofit work or volunteerism
Casey Castillo, CEO of the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank.
Casey Castillo, CEO of the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank.
(Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Many of you will know the old adage, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” After working for over 20 years in the nonprofit sector, I can attest to the value and truth of this statement. It resonates as much today as it did many years ago.
As CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, I am honored to work with a team of talented people and an army of dedicated volunteers who are passionate about serving those in need in our community. Every day at the Food Bank carries meaning and purpose for our team as we provide hunger-relief programs and resources for those facing food insecurity in communities throughout San Diego County.
My advice to the graduating class of 2023 is to consider a career that is meaningful to yourself and amplifies your impact in the wider community. With an open road ahead of you, there will be many options and paths to choose from, and there are a multitude of fulfilling roles in every industry. My advice is to consider making an impact through a role in the nonprofit sector, or finding a cause that you are passionate about and make that a lifetime of rewarding volunteerism.
—Casey Castillo, CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank
A scientist’s advice for graduates heading out into an uncertain world: choose joy
UC San Diego Assistant Professor Rebecca Fielding-Miller.
UC San Diego Assistant Professor Rebecca Fielding-Miller.
(Courtesy of Rebecca Fielding-Miller)
There is so much world to see and there are so many people to meet and listen to and learn from. You do not have to know what you want to be when you grow up. You barely have to know what you want to do this summer. Instead, ask yourself, what gives you joy?
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You, the class of 2023, know better than many of us how quickly and dramatically our future plans can change. And because I am just a scientist, not a fortune-teller, here is the most concrete future advice that I think I am qualified to provide:
Choose joy.
Choose the people who give you joy, and the hobbies that give you joy, and the sights and the sounds and the smells and the tastes and the feelings and the places that give you joy. Choose to bring more joy into the world by being kind and making something beautiful. You are at the beginning of something new. There is no map. There are no rules. There is only you and the relationships you have built, and the thing you have learned so far. How wonderful. Good luck. We’re all cheering for you.
—Rebecca Fielding-Miller, Associate Professor at UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health
Dive in, stay flexible, have fun
Ronne Froman Blue (RAdm, USN, ret) in 2019.
Ronne Froman Blue (RAdm, USN, ret) in 2019.(Vincent Andrunas)
Congrats on this major milestone in your life. Be very proud of this accomplishment.
Life has many doors and windows. Keep all your options open while looking for your next steps.
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Don’t sit and wait for the perfect job to come along. The perfect one may never come. It is important to get into the workplace, get started and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Enjoy the adventures you have ahead and don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun in whatever you choose — or what chooses you.
—Rear Adm. Ronne Froman-Blue, retired naval officer and first woman to command U.S. Navy Region Southwest
You made it! Welcome to the infinite game
UCSD physicist Brian Keating
UCSD physicist Brian Keating (Nel Cepeda)
You’re remarkable, that’s clear. To get here you battled throughout high school to attend college and be amongst the best scholars in the world.
Then you continued the fight, pulling all-nighters, competing against the clock and the dreaded grade curve.
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You succeeded in these competitions — termed ‘finite games’ by the scientists who study them. There are winners and losers; admits and rejects. You made it. You won!
But now the real game begins and, wow, it’s a doozy: there’re no rules. No end. No winners or losers. Now you’re playing an infinite game. The object is to keep playing.
I wish that you’ll never stop learning, for learning is play. Build on the skills you’ve learned.
Ask questions, explore and experiment.
Most of all, never stop sharing what you learn with others. They’re no longer your competition. They’re your teammates in the infinite game of life.
—Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego
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Be great at giving and receiving, and remember to pay yourself first
Congratulations on this incredible academic milestone and doing it in San Diego to boot. Well done. A few thoughts, macro and micro, on life and money.
The next chapters in life deal chiefly with giving and receiving. Be great at both. Choices will be abundant from here and the byproduct of those may not be obvious at first but will compound as time goes on. Choose wisely. Speak of health, wealth and blessings. Anything other is too expensive.
The most untroubled and wealthy people I know intimately have reverence for faith, health, love and money (perfect self-expression). The weight you put on each is up to you, but if you are missing one your contentment with your existence here on earth will be reduced.
If you want to have a good relationship with money for a long period of time, give yourself permission to “pay yourself first.” I promise there will be competing priorities, but the ones who don’t worry about money have created a system to automatically (and systematically) pay themselves before anything else. Start somewhere like 10 percent of gross earned income and build from there.
Go do great things.
—Jonathan D. Murphy, CFP, La Jolla-based private wealth adviser with Ashline Financial
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Expert on aging says it’s vital to make time for what matters
As an alumnus of SDSU and UC San Diego I have great respect for the college graduates from San Diego’s colleges. What struck me post-graduation is how quickly time passes as the sheer quantity of tasks to complete grows. In my career as a geriatrician, I have seen how easy it can be to let this time pass without taking a moment to focus on oneself.
The core of geriatrics is function, and efforts to preserve functional abilities are the most strongly associated with better health outcomes and longevity across the lifetime. Making the time to focus on wellness, ensuring regular physical exercise can be crucial to aging well. More so is a focus on one’s mental health. Finding moments to maintain hobbies and interests amidst the trials of life can pay great dividends in terms of achieving the goal of wellness. In addition, we find that a lifestyle rich with mental stimulation can pay off greatly in terms of reducing risk of memory problems in later life.
It’s key to remember that learning should not end with graduation, but rather let graduation be the start of a lifetime of learning and mental growth.
—Dr. Ian Neel, geriatrician and Medical Director of UC San Diego Health’s Geriatric Medicine Consult Service
We’re counting on you, dear graduates
Ah, dear graduates, I’d like to tell you the world is waiting to welcome you—but it can’t just now. So take a few minutes to review what you’ve learned that will help you help us to make some improvements. Education is the key to a productive life.
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First, I hope you’ve had a values-based education. How you conduct business is important. Pick and choose carefully those qualities you want to reflect.
Search out your talents and focus on strengths you have.
Listen to all sides of an issue, then form your own opinion. Don’t be bullied or manipulated.
Don’t be afraid of a mid-course correction. The university experience may have opened new fields and subsequent employment may require additional training.
And what can you do to keep the fruits of your education in your life in the long term? Learn new and better ways to accomplish your goals. And best of all: pay it forward! Contribute to scholarships for students! Letters of gratitude from people Donald and I have assisted, they fill my heart.
Finally, it’s up to those who will shape our collective future to carry on the torch of learning and action. We are all building blocks and we are looking to you!
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—Darlene Marcos Shiley, philanthropist, who with her husband, inventor Donald Shiley (1920-2010), has contributed broadly to the San Diego region and beyond
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