Respected chancellor, faculty, dignitaries on and off the stage, parents, allies and the graduating
class of 2019 it is an honor to be addressing you on this auspicious day. This is my second
college graduation but my first graduation ceremony. I have always romanticized
commencement ceremonies because they represent a new beginning and celebrate significant
achievements. Take a moment to look around and soak it in, we did it, we made it.
While we bask in the hard work and perseverance of years past, this is a perfect time to look at the world around us, the world may not be perfect by any measure but this is the world that we are inheriting. We are beset by obstacles and opportunities. Mahatma Gandhi once said that you must be the change that you want to see in the world. Today, I beseech you to not just be that change but also inspire that change. We, the graduating class of 2019 have been blessed to have received one of the finest education that this country and the world has to offer and just like the Minutemen of yore that changed the world by giving birth to an idea that has lit the world for centuries, the Minutemen and women of this millennia have everything we need to change it again. We are prepared to tackle the generational challenge of climate change, to combat the wave of bigotry and hatred that is sweeping the globe, we are prepared to embrace the power of diversity of thought, we are prepared to do all of this and much much more. Our darkest days are always followed by our finest hours.
I have some wishes that I hope the universe and our own fortitude would grant us -
I hope we give credit to the works and not the words
I hope we do not fear death, but a wasted life
I hope we persevere to become better human beings
I hope that we never doubt that a small group of committed and thoughtful citizens can change the world
I hope we never forget that a ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for
I hope we remember that hatred begets hatred
And most importantly, I sincerely hope we never stop learning and growing
I know this is a historic speech and I am grateful for the opportunity, feeling the weight of judgment by future classes, as a computer scientist, I decided to seek some help from the future and asked an AI if it had any life advice for the graduating class of 2019 by training a language model on some of the most iconic graduation speeches. Here Is what your future overlords want you to know today - “Knowledge is our past and future, Let's go do what using technology allows us to do and make sure you are educating future generations. Give kids access to college and university competency and skills. Create an array of basic volunteer jobs -for most young adults who need them immediately. Innovate on the clean air of our cities—bring them power and innovation. Help buy more electric cars. And finally, assume responsibility for getting businesses excited and Drive an incoming recession!”
On a more serious note, in this fast-paced world gratitude and service are two things that can help keep us grounded. Volunteering for a cause that you believe in has the power to move and inspire you that material things cannot come close to matching. As you move from success to success in your life, I hope you never forget the contributions that countless people have made along the way. I know that as we celebrate our success today, for many if not most of us, it would have been impossible to achieve without the strong support of our family and loved ones. Even within our UMass family, there are countless people who work tirelessly to ensure that we succeed, a huge shoutout to - the international programs office, the CCPH, the stonewall center, the library staff, UMass dining, office for professional development, career services, and of course the graduate school.
As we talk about and celebrate success today, we should take a moment to talk about failure as well. Failure often gets shrugged under a rug, we are taught - there is no room for failure, we must succeed as at all costs, failure is the reward for people who do not work hard enough. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Flow and ebb is the nature of life, success and failure are the yin and yang of professional as well as personal life. No matter how much you prepare, how hard you work, how much luck you have on your side - brushes with failure are inevitable in life. It is how we react when those unwanted moments do arrive that measures us as a person. Denial and giving up altogether are natural responses, they are the easy way out. No one wants to talk about their failure. But wholehearted acceptance of the fact and analysis of what went wrong can make us a stronger person than we ever were. The importance of analyzing what went wrong, and realizing that we must do better, and we will do better cannot be overstated.
Learn, learn from your mistakes, learn from other’s mistakes, learn from every opportunity that life presents you with. As you walk out of the gates of this great fountain of education it is easy to believe that you know everything you need to know, after burning the midnight oil for that last page of your thesis, you have more than earned the hubris. Do not fall into that trap. The only common thread that binds successful people across every domain is the fact that they never gave up an opportunity to learn and improve themselves. Do not let the current political climate fool you, no man's ignorance will ever be his virtue. Always ask yourself is this the best that you can be? Lifelong learning should be a goal that all of us aspire towards.
The key to long-lasting tranquility, I have found, is understanding that nothing is black-and-white every person that you come across is a complex being, struggling and fighting fires across dimensions of their life that you do not even know to exist. So be patient and embrace the grey. Let people know that you understand ‘life’ happens and that you trust people to do their best, and they will. Class of 2019 you are going to change the world. As you go about it, I hope you embrace diversity and inclusiveness, because together we are much stronger. I wish you all the very best because the future can be whatever you want it to be. With a UMass education, you have the perfect chisel, all you need to do now is carve!
Go UMass!
While we bask in the hard work and perseverance of years past, this is a perfect time to look at the world around us, the world may not be perfect by any measure but this is the world that we are inheriting. We are beset by obstacles and opportunities. Mahatma Gandhi once said that you must be the change that you want to see in the world. Today, I beseech you to not just be that change but also inspire that change. We, the graduating class of 2019 have been blessed to have received one of the finest education that this country and the world has to offer and just like the Minutemen of yore that changed the world by giving birth to an idea that has lit the world for centuries, the Minutemen and women of this millennia have everything we need to change it again. We are prepared to tackle the generational challenge of climate change, to combat the wave of bigotry and hatred that is sweeping the globe, we are prepared to embrace the power of diversity of thought, we are prepared to do all of this and much much more. Our darkest days are always followed by our finest hours.
I have some wishes that I hope the universe and our own fortitude would grant us -
I hope we give credit to the works and not the words
I hope we do not fear death, but a wasted life
I hope we persevere to become better human beings
I hope that we never doubt that a small group of committed and thoughtful citizens can change the world
I hope we never forget that a ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for
I hope we remember that hatred begets hatred
And most importantly, I sincerely hope we never stop learning and growing
I know this is a historic speech and I am grateful for the opportunity, feeling the weight of judgment by future classes, as a computer scientist, I decided to seek some help from the future and asked an AI if it had any life advice for the graduating class of 2019 by training a language model on some of the most iconic graduation speeches. Here Is what your future overlords want you to know today - “Knowledge is our past and future, Let's go do what using technology allows us to do and make sure you are educating future generations. Give kids access to college and university competency and skills. Create an array of basic volunteer jobs -for most young adults who need them immediately. Innovate on the clean air of our cities—bring them power and innovation. Help buy more electric cars. And finally, assume responsibility for getting businesses excited and Drive an incoming recession!”
On a more serious note, in this fast-paced world gratitude and service are two things that can help keep us grounded. Volunteering for a cause that you believe in has the power to move and inspire you that material things cannot come close to matching. As you move from success to success in your life, I hope you never forget the contributions that countless people have made along the way. I know that as we celebrate our success today, for many if not most of us, it would have been impossible to achieve without the strong support of our family and loved ones. Even within our UMass family, there are countless people who work tirelessly to ensure that we succeed, a huge shoutout to - the international programs office, the CCPH, the stonewall center, the library staff, UMass dining, office for professional development, career services, and of course the graduate school.
As we talk about and celebrate success today, we should take a moment to talk about failure as well. Failure often gets shrugged under a rug, we are taught - there is no room for failure, we must succeed as at all costs, failure is the reward for people who do not work hard enough. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Flow and ebb is the nature of life, success and failure are the yin and yang of professional as well as personal life. No matter how much you prepare, how hard you work, how much luck you have on your side - brushes with failure are inevitable in life. It is how we react when those unwanted moments do arrive that measures us as a person. Denial and giving up altogether are natural responses, they are the easy way out. No one wants to talk about their failure. But wholehearted acceptance of the fact and analysis of what went wrong can make us a stronger person than we ever were. The importance of analyzing what went wrong, and realizing that we must do better, and we will do better cannot be overstated.
Learn, learn from your mistakes, learn from other’s mistakes, learn from every opportunity that life presents you with. As you walk out of the gates of this great fountain of education it is easy to believe that you know everything you need to know, after burning the midnight oil for that last page of your thesis, you have more than earned the hubris. Do not fall into that trap. The only common thread that binds successful people across every domain is the fact that they never gave up an opportunity to learn and improve themselves. Do not let the current political climate fool you, no man's ignorance will ever be his virtue. Always ask yourself is this the best that you can be? Lifelong learning should be a goal that all of us aspire towards.
The key to long-lasting tranquility, I have found, is understanding that nothing is black-and-white every person that you come across is a complex being, struggling and fighting fires across dimensions of their life that you do not even know to exist. So be patient and embrace the grey. Let people know that you understand ‘life’ happens and that you trust people to do their best, and they will. Class of 2019 you are going to change the world. As you go about it, I hope you embrace diversity and inclusiveness, because together we are much stronger. I wish you all the very best because the future can be whatever you want it to be. With a UMass education, you have the perfect chisel, all you need to do now is carve!
Go UMass!
