My Advice for 2025 Grads: Robots Give Lousy Hugs

Bonnie Low-Kramen

When I was a kid, I would give my dad a great big neck hug and I would wait for him to say, “This hug is like medicine” as we held on tight. Dad was onto something. Hugs feel great and actually have healing properties. Google it.

So, that’s my advice for this year’s graduates. Spend time thinking about how you relate to people, including the person looking back at you in the mirror. In the end, people do things for people who they know, like, and trust. And sometimes we hug them.

Here are a few other tips about humans.

1. Be a person of your word and don’t say or promise things you don’t mean because people remember.
2. Care about people. Don’t skip over their feelings because you are in a hurry and think that it “won’t matter.” It does, doesn’t it?
3. Spend some more time thinking about, well, time. As in those precious 24 hours each day that you are given and how do you envision spending that time. I promise you it goes fast. Really fast.

We live in a high-tech time filled with devices, apps, and algorithms designed to know us better than we know ourselves. They don’t.

Never forget that robots and devices are great but they give lousy hugs.

Congratulations on your graduation!