Schwarzman Advises High School Grads to `Do Something You Love'

(Bloomberg) -- Steve Schwarzman threw a party Thursday for 93 graduating seniors whose education at Catholic high schools he helped pay for. At Blackstone Group’s Park Avenue headquarters, he offered the students pizza, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and some advice.

On College:

“Make sure you finish,” Schwarzman said. “There’s always a temptation at some point when things are hard, or you have a tough course, or someone doesn’t like you. It’s the nature of going through the next system. Don’t give up. Fight it all the way through, because you end up having a better life, if you have more education."

On Careers:

“When you have the chance to, do something that you love. It’s a long day if you don’t,” he said. “Don’t end up doing something that you don’t like just for money. You can always find something to do with your capability. It’s important to do something that you’re proud of, that’s sort of joyful, and that you’re prepared for. And hold out for that. Start doing something else, but make sure you end up doing something that you love.”

On Travel:

“My wife and I were at the Vatican about a month ago. That was really amazing. The Sistine Chapel, we got to see the Pope’s office, we got to meet the Pope, all kinds of things. If you ever have the chance to go to Rome and see -- these are sort of remarkable artistic achievements, leaving aside the religious connotations,” he said. “So one time in your life you should save a little money, get yourself a discount flight and do that.”

Schwarzman and his wife Christine supported the students through the Inner-City Scholarship Fund. They’ve given almost $50 million to the group.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Vincent Bielski, Alan Mirabella

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