Charles Shiflett Column May 22, 2005

So You Graduated... Now What?

It seems like only yesterday! In reality it seems like the 27 years ago it actually was. There were a few
screaming female friends and a couple of guys yelling "Elvis" as I walked across the stage to receive
my diploma that Sunday evening at Cedartown High in 1978. I think they embarrassed my mom a
little.

I had always loved school. With lots of friends, there was never a shortage of things to do. Except for a
couple of algebra classes, I'd been a good student from first grade on up. I was in the Honor Society
and was a member of the Student Council. Classmates had elected me a Hall of Fame runner-up

Reality began to sink upon returning from our graduation trip to Florida as I pondered life after high
school. Many of my closest friends were headed for UGA and Tech. As for me, I hadn't decided what I
wanted to do. My parents expected me to attend college, but being the proverbial strong willed child I
was… they really hadn't pushed me to make a decision.

Things were different for students in the 1970's in small town Georgia. The pressure to nail the SAT
and apply for college admission a full year before graduation just didn't exist for most of us.

My close-knit family had lived in north Georgia since 1797. The thought of moving off somewhere was
a little frightening. At that time, the blue collar/textile mentality of this region was firmly ingrained in
most folks. Many high schoolers expected to graduate, find a local manufacturing job, and raise a
family. Some chose the military. College just wasn't a serious consideration for many.

I could have been admitted to just about any college I wanted to attend. One small college invited me
to try out for the basketball team as a walk-on. The Navy kept enticing me to enter their nuclear
program.

During high school I had given up sports to pursue my dream of being a rock star. I was the lead
singer of a local rock group my senior year and shortly after graduation was contacted by a promoter
in Michigan putting together a national touring group.

Another promoter tried to convince me to head west and get involved in the Los Angeles club scene. I
also had a passion for sound engineering and a contact had given my name to an audio engineer in
New York who was looking for an apprentice.

I was eighteen years old with a plateful of options and enough indecision to last a lifetime. I've always
wondered how different my life would have been if I chosen another path, though I have no regrets.

In the end I just couldn't leave all those high school sophomore and junior girls behind, so I enrolled at
Floyd College where I could stay home and ease my way into adult life. Besides music, my other
passions were news, history, and politics so I chose journalism for a major.

I wrote for the school newspaper, was elected to the Student Government, and met my future wife. My
plans for life were sketchy at best… no reason to close any doors, but life has a way of falling in place
quickly. Sandra and I began dating and talked of marriage at some point.

A few months later her mother passed away and shortly afterward her dad was diagnosed with
terminal cancer. We sped up our wedding plans and moved in next door to her dad to look after him.
He died ten months later. Sandra's plans to become a teacher had been delayed and I still didn't know
what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I've always been envious of those who pick a career path early in life and stick to it, but I could never
have lived that way. God blessed (or cursed) me with a high IQ and enough curiosity to put Curious
George to shame.

For me the desire for new challenges and accomplishments has taken me on a course of adventure.
I've managed businesses for others and owned several myself. I've worked on numerous political
campaigns and have written press releases and speeches for legislators and congressmen.

I sat with Newt Gingrich and his political guru Joe Gaylord in 1992 as a small group of us discussed
strategy for a Republican revolution which came to pass two years later. I've had experiences I never
dreamed of and never planned for.

So to the high school graduates of 2005 my advice consists of five words… Live life to the fullest! If you
have a career path chosen, then go for it with all the gusto you can manage. If you don't, then explore
all the alternatives and do something you enjoy. There's nothing worse than working just to survive…
get out there and make something happen!

Twenty-seven years passes quickly and I'm always looking for another adventure. Heck, I just might
break out the old vampire cape I used to wear onstage and try to restart my rock career. If Mick Jagger
can pull it off at his age, then anything is possible. On the other hand Sandra and I just celebrated our
25th wedding anniversary, and though she's always been supportive of whatever I've wanted to do… I
think she might draw the line here. Congrats grads!