graduation talk

U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder delivered a hopeful commencement address to the 2009 graduates of Columbia College. He started his speech by telling the graduates about his personal experiences as freshman of the said college. He also recalled exciting memories about “Vietnam War, the rise of black consciousness, the woman’s movement, the stirrings of gay pride, the feeling that anything was possible, that the world could be changed “.

While he believe that his generation had done good and mighty things for the community and the world in general, still the work is not yet finished. He challenged the graduates to aim higher and surpass the accomplishments of the previous generations. According to him, as Columbia men and women they must embrace their obligation to be a public servant of the community. Holder defined public service as “not a career path to be chosen or avoided; nor is it an extracurricular activity for which only some will find time for in their busy lives”. Public servants should make selfless contributions for the betterment of the nation. Achieving a college degree from a prestigious institution like Columbia College is bundled with a responsibility to give back a part of one’s self to the community.

Holder enumerated some of ways to serve the public such as helping the less fortunate children who didn’t have the chance to enjoy a good education. He also encouraged the graduates to help and recognize the unsung leaders who worked hard for the community and set them as role models for playing by the rules. In closing, Holder reminded the graduates to never lose their hope in making an inevitable change for the improvement of the world’s current state.

Here is the video and full script of Atty. Gen. Eric Holder’s commencement speech at Columbia College last May 19, 2009.

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First Lady Michelle delivered her second commencement speech at Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School (WMST PCHS) on June 3, 2009.

Mrs. Obama shared her own struggles as an African-American student from a working class family in Illinois. She admitted to the graduating class that when she was their age, she had also doubted her own abilities. She also warned them about other people who will plant doubts in their heads. Instead of turning worries into fear, she advised them to bravely address their worries and doubt just like what other minorities who overcame their doubts and became powerful and respected citizens.

She reassured the graduates that they are more than ready to lead the country. It is their time to step up and they should have no excuses.

Here is the full script of Michelle Obama’s commencement speech at Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School (WMST PCHS) last June 3, 2009.

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Kingsborough Community College held its 44th commencement program last June 12, 2009 and invited Dr. Jill Biden as the keynote speaker for the said event. According to the news, it was her one and only commencement address for the year. Dr. Jill Biden is the wife of U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden.

Dr. Biden’s 10-minute speech, mainly discussed about the importance of community colleges in the country. She praised the graduates for accomplishing something that no one could ever steal away from them. She also told them to go on with their education even after their graduation.

In her speech, Dr. Biden revealed that she deeply cared for community colleges because she had been a community college teacher for almost 25 years. She also commended several students who did their best and bravely faced the challenges in their lives such as raising children, doing multiple jobs and struggling to learn English in order to finish their education.

Here is the video and full script of Dr. Jill Biden’s commencement speech at Kingsborough Community College last June 12, 2009.

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For the 177th commencement exercises of New York University, they invited U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton as the key note speaker for the said event. Clinton urged the new graduates to take part on the present crises that the world is facing nowadays. She identified these crises as climate change, hunger, poverty, new diseases and nuclear production. According to her, there is no problem that will not yield to human effort; through cooperation we can all achieve a better world in the future.

Clinton also challenged the NYU graduates to be citizen diplomats or activists in order to confront the challenges and threats in our everyday lives. This year’s batch of new graduates has an historic opportunity to overcome these challenges or to succumb to the present issues.

With the aid of new technologies she believed that the problems will be solved by 60 percent of the world’s population under the age of 30. She also emphasized that the State Department along with Obama Administration see to it that young people are given the opportunity to translate your beliefs and ideals into service and action.

Here is the video and full script of Sec. Hillary Clinton’s commencement speech at New York University last May 13, 2009.

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I was so inspired with Oprah Winfrey’s commencement speech at Duke University last May 10, 2009. For the past several years, I have been chasing success but still I failed every time I attempted to run after it. Oprah’s speech gave me important insights on how to be a huge success.

You will be a huge success if …

1. You can contribute something to somebody else’s life. According to her, the best way to enhance one’s life is to see to it that it can somehow take part in someone else’s life. Giving back to the community what you have acquired is one of the great measures of a person’s success.

2. You have the courage in facing life’s hardships. Oprah advised the graduates to be responsible for the energy that you bring to every thing you do in life. When something is eating you up be courageous to confront those issues because you are also responsible for your own happiness.

3. You can see the possibility of changing your life and seeing what you have become. Oprah reminded her audience that every one needs a makeover in their lives. It is important to value not just the physical results of that change but the internal effects as well.

4. You can live life with humility. Oprah challenged the graduates to be humble in spite of the great success they will attain in the near future.

5. You speak kind and affirming words to those who needed them. Be sensitive enough to the people around you; if they need an inspiration boost their spirits.

6. You follow your gut above any one else’s opinion.

Below is the video and full script of Oprah Winfrey’s commencement address to Duke University graduates last May 10, 2009.

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Paul Hawken, a well-known environmentalist, encouraged the graduates to take part in saving Mother Earth  during his commencement speech at University of Portland on May 3, 2009. He reminded everyone that as God let men have dominion over the earth, we are all responsible to restore and rebuild the environment as well as reconsider the matters that are related to it.

As stewards of God’s creation, Hawken challenged us to practice green living and act on the nature’s call. We should run it as if your life depends on it.

Here is the transcript of the commencement address by Paul Hawken on May 3, 2009 at the University of Portland. Read the rest of this entry »

Patriotism, that’s the main focus of Pres. Barack Obama’s commencement speech at the United States Naval Academy. He admired the spirit of service of the sailors, Marines, soldiers, airmen and Coast Guardsmen who gave their very best in every mission they were assigned. According to him, they are the citizens who choose to serve the country and embraced the values that country needs in times of turmoil.

He reminded the graduates to imitate the deeds of those who have gone before them and fulfill the true meaning of citizenship. He also emphasized the essence of Honor, Courage, and Commitment that will be needed in facing new threats and protect the American people as well as the Constitution. He expressed the country’s need for people like them in to lead the path in writing the new chapter of America’s saga.

Here is the video and transcript of the commencement address by Pres. Barack Obama on May 22, 2009 at United States Naval Academy.

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The “Teach for America” founder, Wendy Kopp, encouraged the graduates of Washington University to contribute some of their time in sharing their knowledge to the less privileged children of U.S.A. by educating them through Teach for America. As expected, Kopp talked about her organization, a corps of outstanding college graduates who commit spend at least two years in solving the educational inequity of the country.

According to her, Teach for America believes that the educational inequity problem does not need to exist and can be solved. She also said that “it is the moral responsibility of those of us who have been given so much to do everything in our power to realize that change”. Indeed we need to reach out and share out gift to those who need it.

She also explained why the new generation of graduates need to sign up for Teach for America after their graduation. First, the world needs inexperience and energetic individuals to carry on with the tasks that the more experienced people had given up. The second reason is, we need to address the problem right now because there is more work to be done.

Before her closing remarks, Kopp dared the new graduates to contribute one to three years of their time in fighting the “disparities of our world” before attending grad school.

Here is the video and transcript of the commencement address by Teach For America Founder Wendy Kopp on May 15, 2009 at Washington University.
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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gave an inspiring commencement speech to the graduates of Wake Forest University last May 18, 2009 on be half of his friend Tim Russert, an American television journalist and lawyer who died in June 13, 2008. In his speech, he paid a tribute to his friend by recalling some of his memories with Russert who was originally scheduled to be the university’s commencement speaker.

Biden praised the generation of the new graduates because their generation is fighting wars in Iraq and Afganistan, volunteering in missions and voted in the last November election. With full conviction, he proclaimed that this generation is the hope to survive the difficulties that America is facing. He also compared the new generation with his generation. Unlike in the past years when the older generations were guiding the new ones on the ways of the world, he admitted that the younger generations are now the leaders. Biden said that the new generation has greater opportunities than the rest and that they are now in charge to not only making a change but more importantly building something new. It is their duty to change the course of history or fail the next generations to come.

In closing, Biden called the new graduates to bend the history in service of a better day.

Here is the transcript of the commencement address by U.S. Vice Pres. Joe Biden on May 18, 2009 at Wake Forset University.

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As U.S. President Barack Obama rendered his first commencement speech (as US President) on May 13, 2009 at Arizona State University, he put out the controversy on the decision of the ASU officials in not giving him an honorary degree by talking about the insignificance of titles in today’s arising problems. He challenged the graduates to never rest on their laurels because there is more work to be done.

He also noted that using the formulas for success that have ruled the past years are obsolete when applied to the challenges that will be faced by the ASU graduates. Pres. Obama enlightened them to always adapt to change and continually take the risks as new opportunities arise. According to him, the country needed people who are willing to follow their passions and make a difference in this world by doing things that is meaningful to them as well as helpful for others. To inspire the graduates, he enumerated some ordinary people who changed the course of history. The emphasized that those people were not after the money and didn’t have impressive titles, instead “they had a passion, a commitment to following that passion wherever it would lead”.

Lastly, he acknowledged that the graduates were building a career in a difficult economic times but they should treat it as a privilege. He believed that “it’s moments like these that force us to try harder and dig deeper and to discover gifts we never knew we had — to find the greatness that lies within each of us. So don’t ever shy away from that endeavor”.

Here is the video and transcript of the commencement address by Pres. Barack Obama on May 13, 2009 at Arizona State University.

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