More from Wesley Chan

What's just as important as having a plan is being able to adapt. A lot of the best things I've experienced are things I never knew or never expected or knew to prepare for.

WC

Wesley Chan

UC San Diego Sixth College Commencement 2012, 2012

10:24

Video starts at 10:24 — the moment this quote was spoken

The Story Behind This Quote

Wesley Chan, co-founder of Wong Fu Productions and a member of UCSD's first Sixth College graduating class, delivered a relatable and humorous address to his alma mater in 2012. He spoke as a peer rather than a distant authority, having graduated just six years earlier from the same campus. Chan's central message was that adaptability matters as much as planning. He illustrated this with his own story: when he and his friends started making videos in 2004, YouTube didn't even exist. They uploaded to a personal website that people had to download videos from. Their media classes taught them more about 'how a camera made us feel' than how to use one. But their resourcefulness — making a little look like a lot — became the advantage that set them apart. None of their success, from meeting the President to building a million-subscriber YouTube channel, was planned.

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