Christina Domenico | Preaching the obvious

With just a year until I make the dreaded leap from undergrad to alumna, I can't help but wonder what my graduation day will entail.

It's supposed to be one of the most important days of my life, one that I'll remember as I wander my way through life's ups and downs (and sideways). But perhaps the biggest deciding factor of how often I'll look back upon that day with nostalgia after walking out of Franklin Field rests on the shoulders of one person - next year's Commencement speaker.

Well, it may also depend on the weather, but that's even more unpredictable.

In my time at Penn, I've heard and read about the hype surrounding our last three lauded speakers: Jodie Foster, James Baker and Michael Bloomberg.

With that track record, who knows what next year will bring? (Please let it be J. K. Rowling; I can't crash Harvard's ceremony this year).

To give myself an idea of what I'm going to be subject to a year from now, I listened to Bloomberg's speech online after graduation. After pondering his life lessons from the comforts of my own home, I realized that he didn't say anything I couldn't have figured out on my own.

The bulk of his speech focused on his "four virtues to lead" - independence, honesty, accountability and immigration - which he compared to Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues to live by. He placed those qualities in a context of, unsurprisingly, politics. The next president, he basically said, should possess those four virtues to effectively lead the country as the next Commander in Chief. And so should the class of 2008.

No kidding.

If a Penn student hasn't acquired a shred of independence by the time they've put on their cap and gown, I don't think Bloomberg illuminating the need for it in the political sector could have really imparted a life lesson in their minds. Firsthand life experience teaches independence, unlike speaking at length about what's wrong with the influence of the NRA on legislators.

As for honesty, Mom and Dad usually teach that lesson at a young age when little Bobby lies about breaking the lamps with a baseball bat. If not, even watching the season finale of The Office shows that honesty really is the best policy.

Anyone who's done a group project knows a thing or two about accountability. Thanks to Wharton, those Huntsman study rooms teach plenty about doing the job yourself and not "passing the buck" off to someone else. College, Engineering and Nursing students also learn the importance of fulfilling responsibilities through their own course work and extracurriculars.

Immigration, which Bloomberg emphasizes as the key to innovatiion, may be the most prevalent virtue found at Penn - how many of your TAs have actually spoken English? Though I don't even think it counts as a virtue - maybe "acceptance" would have worked better, since Bloomberg spoke about embracing "the best and the brightest from across the globe."

In any case, his speech did nothing more than to point out what the class of 2008 should have already known - think for yourself, don't lie about what you've done, face your responsibilities openly and don't discount anyone because of their background. Thanks, Dad.

This may be the most important election in the history of the United States, but Commencement is about the beginning of a graduate's journey, not the country's. Bloomberg made it clear that these four qualities should exist in the next president - and that as newly inaugurated alumni, it's their duty to recognize them and vote for the candidate that possesses them.

Which it obviously is, of course. But on my graduation day, I'd rather not be told how to make political decisions. There's enough over-the-top media coverage about the hundreds of issues surrounding this election without one of the former potential candidates reminding us about them from behind a podium.

I hope that next year our speaker moves beyond the everyday. I could find Bloomberg's words in any number of inspirational books.

Maybe I'm just being picky, or maybe I just expect too much. But as impressive and notable as Bloomberg's accomplishments are, he bored me a little out loud.

And I won't remember boring nor cliché 20 years from now.

Christina Domenico is a College junior from North Wildwood, N.J. Her e-mail is domenico@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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