Tohave direction we must have goals. Our goal may be to go to New York. We have a purpose and direction. I then talked about being flexible with their goals and not getting so discouraged that they give up before attempting to accomplish them. I ended with Lao Tse, The longest journey begins with but a single step.
Graduation is a step in their lifetime journey.
Instead, I talked about the students in a personal way, and managed to mention every one by name in talking about what I had observed about them.