Seniors,

An era of life is ending and a new era of life is just about to begin. Throughout your life, not only high school, but growing up and experiencing the world, you have acquired an infinite amount of lessons and memories that you will hold onto for the rest of your lives. Now, your role shifts. Instead of acquiring the intricacies of life, you must now shape your own. Shape your own self, shape your own world, shape your own future. That in itself seems like the ultimate onus. Too many paths to take and too many decisions to make.

The Multiverse Theory, audaciously suggested by Erwin Schrodinger in 1952, hypothesizes that there are infinite sets of possible universes including our own. In Schrodinger’s theory, that would mean there would be an alternate universe for every single action, decision, or path that could ever be taken by anyone or anything in the universe. Though no one can prove this theory correct, no one can prove it incorrect either. Seniors, although overwhelming, do not dwell on the little things. According to Schrodinger they will be well lived and experienced, maybe not in this universe, but somewhere out there in one parallel. Instead, strive for the ultimate goal. But what is it? What is the ultimate goal? The ultimate desire of life itself?

One thing that we, humankind, strive for in every moment of every day, is success. We strive for success in our relationships, we strive for success in sports, we strive for success in simply getting to school on time in the morning. Although we can declare ourselves successful in the areas of our lives in which we achieve those small goals, what the future perpetually whispers is how can you be successful in life? What path will lead you to be successful?

Malcolm Gladwell writes of the stories of the most successful people in history in his book Outliers. Gladwell writes of the type of success that we see glorified all around us: fame and fortune. He ultimately ends up refuting this idea entirely. He describes the success of gaining fame and fortune as, “beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies.” If the success defined by fame and fortune is simply unattainable without the presence of opportunity and cultural favorability, how can you attain it?

Perhaps success is not at all as complicated as we make it out to be. Perhaps it needs to be redefined. Or simply undefined. Maybe it’s a limit that our tangible minds have fabricated into a single, attainable state of mind or point in time. Malcolm Gladwell, right or wrong about fame and fortune, was right about one thing. Your family, your friends, your religion, your culture, and everything you have learned and experienced from those things has shaped who you are up to this point, including your morals. Morally, many of us desire things like love and happiness in life. To be passionate for someone. To be passionate about the things you invest yourself in. To feel fearless. To feel alive. All desires of life. Fulfilling a desire is precisely success.

Seniors, take away every lesson from your life up to this point. Know your morals. Know who and what is important to you. Even if you know absolutely nothing more about where your life is going at this point, just simply doing what you love and striving for the feelings and things you desire will lead you in the right direction. You may never reach success, as intangible as it is. But rather success will reach you the more and more tangible you make yourself.