You are future record-breakers and world travelers… future volunteers and philanthropists… future winners and future leaders. I’m here to tell you… from the other side of graduation… that leaving a familiar world behind and finding new ones is incredibly, deeply, wonderfully exciting.
No matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead, because that’s what we want for ourselves, and it’s what we want for our neighbors.
America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.
As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for — a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other. A restoration of what Lincoln called, on the eve of civil war, “our bonds of affection.” An America that taps what he called “the better angels of our nature.”
In 77 days, we have the power to turn our country away from the fear, division and smallness of the past. We have the power to marry our hope with our action. We have the power to pay forward the love, sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us.
Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. And oftentimes you can’t tell which. Either way, run! And for your journey, take along some of my learnings, that you will have the humility to confront failure, admit a mistake, and ask for help.
We have to remember that the choices of individual human beings led to repeated world war. But we also have to remember that the choices of individual human beings created a United Nations, so that a war like that would never happen again.
Well starting tomorrow, work is the rest of your life.That’s right. Ouch! Exactly!So my first wish is for you to find joy in work, find work that gives you great joy, or just fall in love with whatever work you do.
I hope you will see setbacks as new opportunities. Your pain and suffering will strengthen your character, your resilience and agility, and they are the ultimate superpowers. Of all of the things that I value most about my abilities, intelligence is not top of that list.
And when you wake up tomorrow, no longer the person you were today and not yet the person you will become next, I hope you will draw courage and confidence from knowing that you, graduates, are water – the force that shapes the shore.
As Lincoln understood that the real threat always and still comes from within this favored land. Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country; They just make our country worth defending.
May you continue to approach your dealings with diligence and integrity—to treat others with care and compassion—and to support and encourage one another as you have done these many days.
You can learn how something can be done and then go back to first principles and ask yourself, ‘Given the conditions today, given my motivation, given the instruments, the tools, given how things have changed, how would I redo this? How would I reinvent this whole thing?’
The times we’re in call for us to no longer seek refuge in ivory towers and gated communities. Today, and each day for the rest of our lives, we must do more than simply be successful . . . work hard . . . try to be perfect. We must make the affirmative choice to be good.
Uncertainty is uncomfortable. But I encourage you to dive into the deep end of discomfort, and as you do, bring with you a Beginner’s mind, an ethic of not knowing. As Emily Dickinson had said, “Not knowing when the Dawn will come, I open every Door.”
We are standing on the rubble of the world that was, and we must have the foresight and courage to imagine – and create the world as it should be: more compassionate, more equal, more sustainable – a world safe from fascists and tyrants.
Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It’s about challenging anger, frustration, and heartbreak to find a solution. It’s about doing what you believe is right, even when it’s hard and lonely.
It’s an opportunity to reflect on all that we, together, have learned and achieved since Trinity College was transformed into Duke University. And it’s an opportunity to look ahead to the great promise of this university’s second century, to your great promise as a generation called to lead the way in an uncertain world.
So you’re at center court and it’s time for tip-off. The game is about to begin. 1. Always keep good teammates. 2. Give of your time, talent and treasure. 3. Know your crystal balls from your rubber balls. 4. Do the right thing. 5. Rebound with grace; and 6. Conduct yourself like a GROWN-up — grateful, ready, open, willing and nice.
Hold tight to all the things you carry from Berkeley, and may they always serve you — and the world around you — well. We are immensely proud of what you have done, and even more, of who you will become.
