"Mary Schmich's column "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" was published in the Chicago Tribune on June 1, 1997. In the column's introduction, she presents the essay as the commencement speech she would give if she were asked to give one.
In the speech, she insists on advising to wear sunscreen, and recites other likewise advice and warnings, intended to live a happier life and avoid common frustrations. She later explained that the initial inspiration for what advice to offer in it came from seeing a young woman sunbathing, and hoping that she was wearing sunscreen, unlike what she herself did at that age.
The essay soon became the subject of an urban legend which said that it was an MIT commencement speech given by author Kurt Vonnegut. In truth, MIT's commencement speaker in 1997 was Kofi Annan and Vonnegut had never been the commencement speaker there. Despite a follow-up article by Schmich on August 3, 1997,the story became so widespread that Vonnegut's lawyer began receiving requests to reprint the speech. Vonnegut commented that he would have been proud had the words been his."
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