Full transcript
0:01I am so proud of each and every one of
0:05you we are here today because every
0:09single one of you stood tall and said
0:13yes we
0:13can yes we can learn yes we can succeed
0:18you decided you would not be defined by
0:21where you come from but but by where you
0:24want to go by what you want to
0:27achieve by the dreams you hope to
0:29fulfill
0:32for We Gather here tonight in times when
0:35the very foundations of Our Lives the
0:38old order has been shaken the old ideas
0:42and institutions have crumbled and a new
0:44generation is called upon to remake the
0:48world and let me be clear when I say
0:50young I'm not just referring to the date
0:52of your birth
0:54certificate I'm talking about an
0:56approach to life a quality of mind and a
0:58quality of heart
1:01we need people like you to step up we
1:05need your daring we need your enthusiasm
1:08we need your energy we need your
1:10imagination a willingness to follow your
1:13passions regardless of whether they lead
1:16to fortune and
1:17fame a willingness to question
1:20conventional wisdom and rethink old
1:24dogmas a lack of regard for all the
1:26traditional markers of status and
1:28prestige and in a commitment instead to
1:32doing what's meaningful to you what
1:34helps others what makes a difference in
1:37this
1:38world we're engaged in two
1:41Wars and a struggle against
1:44terrorism the threats of climate change
1:48nuclear proliferation and pandemic defy
1:51National boundaries and easy solutions
1:54for many of
1:56you these challenges are also felt in
1:59more personal
2:00concerns perhaps you're still looking
2:03for a
2:04job you're struggling to figure out what
2:06career path makes sense now in the face
2:09of these
2:10challenges it may be tempting to fall
2:13back on the formulas for Success that
2:16have been pedal so frequently in recent
2:22years it goes something like
2:25this we too often let the external the
2:29material things serve as indicators that
2:32we're doing well even though something
2:34inside us tells us that we're not doing
2:36our best that we're avoiding that which
2:39is hard but also necessary that that
2:41we're shrinking from rather than rising
2:44to the challenges of the
2:46age and the thing is in this new hyper
2:49competitive age none of us none of us
2:53can afford to be
2:55complacent that's true whatever
2:57profession you choose
3:00professors might earn the distinction of
3:02tenure but that doesn't guarantee that
3:04they'll keep putting in the long hours
3:07and late nights and have the passion and
3:09the drive to be great
3:13Educators the same principle is true in
3:15your personal life being a parent is not
3:18just a matter of paying the bills doing
3:21the bare minimum it's not just bringing
3:23a child in the world that matters but
3:25the acts of love and sacrifice it takes
3:28to raise and educate that child and give
3:31them
3:33opportunity I'm standing here as
3:35president because the education that I
3:38[Music]
3:40received I know it's not always easy to
3:42do well in
3:43school I know a lot of you have
3:45challenges in your lives right now I get
3:48it I know what it's like my father left
3:51my family when I was 2 years old and I
3:54was raised by a single mom who had to
3:56work and who struggled at times to pay
3:58the bills and wasn't always able to give
4:00us the things that other kids had there
4:03were times when I missed having a father
4:05in my life there were times when I was
4:07lonely and I felt like I didn't fit in
4:10so I wasn't always as focused as I
4:12should have been on school and I did
4:14some things that I'm not proud of and I
4:15got in more trouble than I should have
4:18and my life could have easily taken a
4:21turn for the
4:22worst but my
4:24mother my
4:26grandparents they pushed me to excel
4:30but I was I was lucky I got a lot of
4:33Second Chances and I had the opportunity
4:35to go to college and law school and
4:36follow my dreams you can't let the past
4:39get you down you have to let it motivate
4:42you everybody here has got a unique
4:45story like that to
4:48tell each of you knows what it took for
4:52you to get
4:54here but in reaching this Milestone
4:57there's a common lesson shared by every
4:59graduate
5:00in this Hall it's not where you are or
5:04what you are it's who you are because
5:07life will throw some things at you truth
5:09is not a single one of the graduates
5:11here today has had as easy not a single
5:14one of you had anything handed to you on
5:17a silver
5:18platter you had to work for it you had
5:22to earn
5:23it most of all you had to believe in
5:26yourselves yes you've always been
5:28underdogs
5:29nobody's handed you a thing but that
5:32also means that whatever you accomplish
5:35in your life you will have earned
5:38it whatever rewards and joys you
5:42reap you'll appreciate them that much
5:44more because they will have come through
5:46your own Sweat and Tears products of
5:48your own effort and your own talents
5:51you've shown more grit and determination
5:53in your childhoods than a lot of adults
5:55ever will that's who you are we need
5:59everyone to broaden their ideas about
6:01what is
6:02possible we need parents politicians and
6:06the media to see how success is possible
6:09how success is happening every
6:12day so that's why I came here
6:15today because if success can happen here
6:19you have everything you need to get
6:20started you've got no
6:23excuses you have no excuses not to
6:26change the world did you study business
6:28go start a company
6:30or why not help a struggling non
6:33for-profit find better more effective
6:34ways to serve folks in need you study
6:37nursing go underst staff clinics and
6:40hospitals across this country are
6:42desperate for your Heth you study
6:44education teach in a high need school
6:48where the kids really need you give a
6:50chance to kids who can't who can't get
6:53everything they need maybe in their
6:55neighborhood maybe not even in their
6:57home but we can't afford to give up on
7:00them prepare them to compete for any job
7:03anywhere in the
7:06world you study engineering help us lead
7:10a Green
7:11Revolution developing new sources of
7:14clean energy that will power our economy
7:16and preserve our planet find somebody to
7:19be successful
7:21for raise their
7:24hopes rise to their
7:28needs that's what's made a difference in
7:30our lives and it's going to make an even
7:32greater difference in your
7:35lives not just for your own
7:38success because we live in a new world
7:41now the Hard Road does not end
7:44here your journey has just begun it
7:48won't protect you against every setback
7:49or challenge or mistake you'll make some
7:51I
7:52promise you're going to have to keep
7:54working hard you're going to have to
7:56keep pushing
7:57yourselves and you'll find El sometime
8:00in situations where folks have had an
8:03easier time they're a little bit ahead
8:04of you and you're going to have to work
8:05harder than there and you may be
8:08frustrated by
8:10that you may have setbacks and you may
8:12have failures but you're not done you're
8:14not even getting
8:16started and if you ever forget that just
8:19look to history Colonel Sanders didn't
8:21open up his first Kentucky Fried Chicken
8:22till he was in the
8:2460s Winston Churchill was dismissed as
8:27little more than it has been who enjoyed
8:30Scotch a little bit too much before he
8:32took over as prime minister and saw
8:34Great Britain through its finest hour
8:36when you read a great
8:38story or you learn about an important
8:42moment in
8:44history it helps you imagine what it
8:46would be like to walk in somebody else's
8:49shoes to know their
8:51struggles each of them at one point in
8:54their life didn't have any title or much
8:57status to speak of but they had passion
9:01a commitment to following that passion
9:03wherever it would lead and to working
9:05hard every step along the
9:08way but if you do push yourselves if you
9:11build on what you've already
9:12accomplished here then I couldn't be
9:15more confident about your
9:17futures I'm hopeful and I'm excited
9:19about what all of you can achieve and I
9:22know that armed with the skills and
9:23experience and love that you've gained
9:26you're ready to make your mark on the
9:28world so thank you thanks for inspiring
9:32me I know starting your careers in
9:35troubled times is a challenge but it is
9:37also a
9:38privilege because it's moments like
9:40these that Force us to try harder and
9:42dig deeper and to discover gifts we
9:45never knew we had to find the greatness
9:49that lies within each of us so don't
9:52ever shy away from that
9:54endeavor I can promise that you will be
9:58the better for that continued effort
10:01congratulations God bless you