ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- I've given commencement speeches. Many graduates want a warm bath. But what they really need is a cold shower.

This is what the class of 2025 needs to hear. And it wouldn't hurt the rest of America to listen in as well.

Dear graduates:

There is an expression that is usually identified -- some claim, misidentified -- as a Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.

President John F. Kennedy loved that saying. And -- as someone who majored in U.S. history in college, with an emphasis on the 20th century, post-World War II -- that's where I first heard it. I was a freshman in college, and I'd snuck off to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston to watch a film about Camelot, the Kennedy presidency.

Like it or not -- and I know none of you got to vote -- you, the class of 2025, live in terribly interesting times.

Even at this, the dawn of a new day, the hour is late. The world is enveloped in chaos, and the old order seems to be just one crisis away from collapse. Madmen intoxicated by power are wiping their feet on the law, violating tradition and violating human rights with cruelty and brutality. Instead of protecting the weak -- and as Kennedy said in his inaugural address, heeding the command of Isaiah the prophet to "let the oppressed go free" -- too many of those in power are determined to chain their opponents, expel their critics and destroy their enemies.

But enough about President Donald Trump. Well... actually, if you'll permit me, I'll say just a few more words about America's wannabe king.

As you probably know, the president recently declared war on an entity that he sees as a threat to Western civilization: Harvard University. That's my alma mater twice over.

Trump said recently that he might redirect $3 billion in grant money intended for Harvard to trade schools across the United States.

Now, in this high society street fight, I'm Team Harvard all the way. And yet, it seems to me that this particular idea is not half bad. The trades -- carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, etc. -- have proven to be great professions, especially for individuals who prefer working with their hands to learning from books. Even as someone who is much better at the latter than the former, I give props to trade schools and those who attend them.

Besides, Harvard doesn't need the money. It has an endowment of more than $53 billion, owing in part to the fact that it's a global brand that dwarfs many others, including all those buildings with "TRUMP" stamped on them. Take the $3 billion, Uncle Sam.

This business about Harvard and trade schools matters because it dovetails into a larger conversation that a lot of American families are having now about the value of a college degree, any degree. Yours, mine, the one that your children may earn one day.

As a nationally syndicated columnist, I'm supposed to piss people off. And given the vitriol in my inbox, I must be really good at my job.

A few months ago, a reader insisted that these days a Harvard degree doesn't produce a good "ROI" (return on investment).

He was talking exclusively about economic return, which told me he had missed the whole point of college. Maybe you go to a university to get a good job. Or maybe you go so that, for the rest of your life, when you converse at dinner parties, you don't sound like a moron.

Here's what you need to know: It's not up to Harvard or any university to guarantee you a certain salary, standard of living or level of whatever passes for success these days. That's 100% on you.

As you leave this place, you're going to face a million or so decisions about how to live your life.

What are you going to do? Where are you going to live? Will you get married, and if so, to whom? Will you go work for someone, or start your company and be your own boss? What kind of son or daughter do you want to be, or what kind of parent? When you fail -- and believe me, you will -- are you going to change course, or double down and try again?

Decisions, decisions. That's what your future is all about. Decide carefully. Your life depends on it.

Good luck, class of 2025. You're going to need it. But, given the times, don't we all?

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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