In his Niagara University commencement address, Russert shared this powerful metaphor to illustrate the importance of service. Having grown up in a working-class Irish Catholic family in Buffalo, he witnessed firsthand how ordinary people lifted each other up — neighbors helping neighbors, teachers staying late for struggling students, his father working double shifts so his son could attend college. Russert argued that the most meaningful measure of success isn't wealth or status but the impact you have on other people's lives. He urged the graduates to make service a habit, not an occasional gesture, reminding them that the act of helping others strengthens the helper just as much as the helped.