by Margot Locker
With graduation season officially coming to a close, we have compiled a roundup of the some of the top graduation speeches from around the country. We noticed many speakers touched on GoodWork threads in their words to graduating seniors. What were your favorite speeches this year?
President Barack Obama, Barnard College
“So don’t accept somebody else’s construction of the way things ought to be. It’s up to you to right wrongs. It’s up to you to point out injustice. It’s up to you to hold the system accountable and sometimes upend it entirely. It’s up to you to stand up and to be heard, to write and to lobby, to march, to organize, to vote. Don’t be content to just sit back and watch.”
Jane Lynch, Smith College
“If I could do so much of my early life over, I would have taken more moments like this to breathe. I would have spent more time focusing on what was right in front of me, instead of recoiling from what is because it didn’t look or feel exactly as I imagined it. I wouldn’t have been forever trying to look around the corner to see “What’s next, what’s next?!”
Oprah Winfrey, Spelman College
“You must have some vision for your life. Even if you don’t know the plan, you have to have a direction in which you choose to go,” Winfrey said. “What I learned is that that’s a great metaphor for life. You want to be in the driver’s seat of your own life because if you are not, life will drive you.”
Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse University
“Develop your own compass, and trust it. Take risks, dare to fail, remember the first person through the wall always gets hurt”
“Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day. Civility, respect, kindness, character.”
Michael Bloomberg, UNC Chapel Hill
“Don’t be afraid to shoot the long ball. Take the risk. Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure. If I had worried about failure – or listened to those who do – I would never have started my company, and never run for mayor. I can’t imagine my life if I hadn’t taken those risks. Not every risk will work out, but that’s ok. Failure is the world’s best teacher.”
Adam Savage, Sarah Lawrence College
“Stay obsessed. That thing you can’t stop thinking about? Keep indulging it. Obsession is the better part of success. You will be great at the things that you can’t not do.”
“Be willing to be wrong. Don’t fight for your idea just because you want the credit. Fight for your idea because it’s the right one. If it’s not, let it go and put your muscle behind the right one. Trust your instincts.”
Colin Powell, Northeastern University
“Make public service a part of your life.”
“Do something that gives you satisfaction every day and makes our society a better place.”
Bob Woodruff, Boston College
“Let me say that I do understand that not every single person gets to find passion in their job—for some people what they do is a vocation—but people find passion in other aspects of their life, whether it’s playing music or writing books, building boats, cooking or running marathons. Whatever it may be, I urge you to find and feed a passion.”