You are now fully prepared to begin living out your hopes and aspirations. And with all the immense challenges we face, the necessity for you to do so right away is more important than ever.
speech graduation purpose
Louis B. Susman
Connecticut College Commencement 2012, 2012
You leave this school as well-armed for battle as anyone is. Nobody really knows anything more than you do. Everyone is just making it up as they go along. Figure it out.
speech graduation courage
Ira Glass
Goucher College Commencement 2012, 2012
Don't be afraid to be a late bloomer. Repeatedly. Remember, you have time to figure out what you want to do, who you need to be, and where you want to go. You have time to fail. You have time to try again.
speech graduation patience
Adam Savage
Sarah Lawrence College Commencement 2012, 2012
Your career as human beings and as Americans and as graduates of Yale is to stand on the fulcrum between fear and faith—fear at your back, faith in front of you. Which way will you lean? Which way will you move? Move forward. Ever forward.
speech graduation courage
Tom Hanks
Yale University Class Day 2011, 2011
You are about to experience the first taste of freedom in your life and that won't be freedom from your parents. You are about to be free from yourself, your old self, the self of your youth. You are, in many ways, about to be born.
speech graduation self discovery
Porochista Khakpour
Desert Academy Commencement 2010, 2010
Be different, be smart, but most of all accept that heavy torch from me and my generation: be the future. Believe that within you is the ability to always make it a better place than this one.
speech graduation courage
Porochista Khakpour
Desert Academy Commencement 2010, 2010
The things which seem like heartbreaking setbacks sometimes turn out to be lucky breaks.
speech graduation resilience
Anderson Cooper
Tulane University Commencement 2010, 2010
Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That's where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go.
speech graduation courage
Sarah Heidt
Kenyon College Baccalaureate, 2010, 2010
You don't need the answers today. Your job is to walk out into the unknown and see what happens. Take your time, learn and enjoy something from each job, layer it on, and then pass it along so others can benefit from your wisdom.
speech graduation patience
Jerry Yang
University of Hawaii Commencement 2009, 2009
The only formula is that there is no formula. There is no easy way to get from point A to point B, nor is there any right way.
speech graduation self discovery
Meredith Vieira
Tufts University Commencement 2008, 2008
Allow life to take you on its glorious journey. The best time to do it is now, when you're young and full of curiosity and have no fear.
speech graduation curiosity
Jessica Lange
Sarah Lawrence College Commencement 2008, 2008
Graduation is a time for us to celebrate all of our achievements, but don't stop there. Don't forget to dream big, go far, and never stop learning.
speech graduation ambition
Jennie Cyran
Niagara University Commencement 2007, 2007