Find the passion, and then let it rip

It’s so nice to see all you soon-to-be South Florida graduates out there, even you clowns in the front row who are trying to download pictures of that teacher who is a bikini model. I see you.

Hey, better you do it here than on the road. The same with you jokers sleeping in the fifth row. Better here than in your car.

Anyway, you will undoubtedly have a lot of brilliant speakers talking to you in the next couple of weeks telling you to be good to humanity after you graduate high school, get a degree and be rich like Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, things like that.

Not that there’s anything wrong with having enough money that you can leave a couple of billion to charity, and still have a couple of billion left.

But here is one thing I don’t want you to worry about. STEM. Yes, science, technology, engineering and math. STEM.

If the state of Florida had it’s way, that’s all any of youwould study in college, so you could all be neat STEM robots when you enter the workforce envisioned by Gov. Rick “Have I told You Lately How Much I Really Love Teachers” Scott.

If STEM is truly your thing, where your heart is, then fine. If it’s not, don’t worry about it.

Be more concerned with being an individual. It’s more than just following your dream. It has to do with passion.

Find something you are passionate about, something you really care about, and make that your focus when you go to college. If you are passionate about it, you will work hard at it. And that will go a long way towards helping you be successful.

Of course, the state of Florida wants you to be passionate about STEM. So much so, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bright Futures Scholarships — which have been cut so much already that you get about a buck and a half a semester— are cut even more in the future. Don’t be shocked if they decide only students who major in STEM can qualify for Bright Futures.

If that happenssomeday, the state will be sacrificing a lot of creative minds.

We need artists and musicians and writers and yes, even journalists. We need people who look at the world with an inquisitive mind. We need people who look at things differently.

We need movie actors and even talk shows hosts. Well, maybe not talk show hosts.

Butwe need producers and directors. We need dancers and opera singers and philosphersandchefsandpeoplewhowant towork with wild animals. We need people who produce the things that add so much texture to our lives.

And mostly, we need people who are passionate about what they do. Because if youcare aboutwhatyouare doing, that puts you light years ahead of someone who is doing something just because Florida politicians told him or her that STEM was the wave of the future.

Find what gets the juices flowing. And then don’t let anybody tell you that it’s not important. If it’s important to you, that’s what matters.

You don’t have to find the road less traveled. Just find the road want to travel, and burn rubber.

I can’t promise you that you’ll be rich, or that you won’t feel pressure, because there is always pressure to get ahead in theworld. Always.

But I promise you that if you are doing something you enjoy, your days will be better, your outlook will be better, and maybe you won’t be such a nasty creep to everybody when you get home at the end of the day.

If you can remember any of what I said after you go home today, then I’ll be happy. Put it to use. And one more thing. If you wind up with as much money as

Stephen Ross, that really isn’t a negative.

Singers and dancers and artists should be encouraged in Florida.