5 Bits of Wisdom from 2017's Commencement Speeches
Each May, universities send their new graduates off into the world armed with a degree, student loan debt and some wisdom imparted by speakers during commencement.
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After some jokes about how he actually never graduated from Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg spoke to the graduates there about the importance of living life with a sense of purpose, and helping create a purposeful world.
Purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness.
You're graduating at a time when this is especially important. When our parents graduated, purpose reliably came from your job, your church, your community. But today, technology and automation are eliminating many jobs. Membership in communities is declining. Many people feel disconnected and depressed, and are trying to fill a void…
To keep our society moving forward, we have a generational challenge: to not only create new jobs, but create a renewed sense of purpose.
Dame Helen Mirren’s commencement speech at Tulane University was chock full of jokes about the Big Easy and the ill wisdom of the 3 a.m. tweet. But the veteran actress doled out some nuggets of wisdom in her five rules for a happy life:
1. Don’t need to rush to get married.
2. Just treat people like people.
3. Ignore anyone who judges the way you look.
4. Don’t be afraid of fear.
5. Don’t overcomplicate things.
Mirren ended her speech by referencing a tattoo on her right hand that reads “in La'kesh,” which means “You are my other self. We are one. I am Another Yourself.”
“The Mayans were on to something,” said Mirren. “Because if I’m you – I have a responsibility to you. If you’re me – you have a responsibility to me. The Mayans just had a more beautiful way of saying ‘we’re all in this together.’
The Facebook COO and author of Lean In spoke to Virginia Tech’s new graduates about resilience, something that life has demanded of her since her husband’s death two years ago. Loss is inevitable and beyond our control, but Sandberg says that our resilience can be deliberately crafted.
“It is a muscle, and that means we can build it. We build resilience into ourselves. We build resilience into the people we love. And we build it together, as a community.”
Sandberg dubbed that last kind of resilience as “collective resilience” and said it’s built through shared experiences. Having a group of people—your own posse, as she puts it—is critical to getting through tough times and heartbreaks.
“An important way you can serve and lead is by helping build resilience in the world. We have a responsibility to help families and communities become more resilient – because none of us get through anything alone. We get through it together.”
Oprah Winfrey ran a nine-school gamut this graduation season when she committed to attending the commencements of graduates of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, a boarding school Winfrey opened in 2007 for disadvantaged girls in South Africa. She used her commencement speech at Smith College to extol the virtues of living a life of service.
"[A]sk the question: How can I be used? Life, use me. Show me through my talents and my gifts, show me through what I know, what I need to know, what I have yet to learn, how to be used in the greater service to life,” said Winfrey. “You ask that question and I guarantee you, Smithies, the answer will be returned and rewarded to you with fulfillment, which is really the major definition of success for me."
Winfrey said she found that personal success when she decided to use her eponymous television show as a “platform that could be of service to the viewers.” Considering that she turned that show into a media conglomerate that made her one of the wealthiest self-made women, we should all listen to her advice for a life well lived.
Amid much singing and joking (what did we expect?), comedian Will Ferrell told USC graduates not to be afraid of failing. “[M]y fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of what if. What if I never tried at all?”
Farrell touched on the phenomenon of Imposter Syndrome, a psychological condition that most of us will face in our professional lives. Imposter Syndrome tells us that no matter how successful we are, deep down we’re just faking it. Any moment now, someone is going to come along and figure out that we don’t know what we’re talking about.
Even after achieving worldwide fame as one of the most successful comedians of the last few decades, Ferrell said he was scared.
“You’re never not afraid. I’m still afraid. I was afraid to write this speech. And now, I’m just realizing how many people are watching me right now, and it’s scary. Can you please look away while I deliver the rest of the speech?”
Amid much singing and joking (what did we expect?), comedian Will Ferrell told USC graduates not to be afraid of failing. “[M]y fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of what if. What if I never tried at all?”
Farrell touched on the phenomenon of Imposter Syndrome, a psychological condition that most of us will face in our professional lives. Imposter Syndrome tells us that no matter how successful we are, deep down we’re just faking it. Any moment now, someone is going to come along and figure out that we don’t know what we’re talking about.
Even after achieving worldwide fame as one of the most successful comedians of the last few decades, Ferrell said he was scared.
“You’re never not afraid. I’m still afraid. I was afraid to write this speech. And now, I’m just realizing how many people are watching me right now, and it’s scary. Can you please look away while I deliver the rest of the speech?”
Each May, universities send their new graduates off into the world armed with a degree, student loan debt and some wisdom imparted by speakers during commencement. It’s easy to have a ho-hum commencement speech (the only thing I remember from mine is that I shouldn’t lose the art of handwritten communication), but when they get it right, commencement speeches can inspire graduates to soaring heights. And thanks to the internet, those of us who maybe only wish we were back in college can benefit from that wisdom, too.
Here are 5 commencement speeches from 2017 that we can all learn from.
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