Over the course of my 13 years in the school system, I've heard plenty of complaints from classmates. "Too much homework", "the tests are too hard", and "the teacher is horrible" were always staples, but there is one claim that I wish to focus on tonight — one gripe that overshadows the rest in complexity and pernicity: "That doesn't matter. I'll never use it anyway."
What a simple little statement. To the naive it seems harmless, simply pushing responsibility away and coping with the sheer magnitude of the complexity of the world, but it reaches deeper than that, for this statement leads one swiftly on the path to nihilism — or the belief that nothing matters.
But that's the thing, the statement is actually psychologically false, phenomenologically false. Even as your physical body rots away the fruits of your labor will live on, implicit in the actions of those around you.
If you are nihilistic, if your propensity towards meaning is zero, the meaning you will get out of life is no different — zero. This means that all one must do to break the bond, to climb out of that gaping pit that consumes many, is to simply believe that meaning exists.
This past year has been rough for most of us. We've seen fear, mistrust, death. We've walked in the very shadow of chaos. The world has reminded us of the complexity that we face, both externally and internally, and brought many to the brink of nihilism. But I urge you, as you go out from this place, as you turn the page to the next chapter of your life, remember one thing: what you do really does mean something.
Treat life as if the very fabric of the cosmos yearns for your contribution. Treat every person as if they matter, treat everything you do as if it matters, treat each moment as if it matters, because the funny thing is, all you have to do is believe, and it will.