The class of 2024 has been through the mill. The pandemic disrupted their transition from high school to college and now they face a tough job market. Many graduates will end up underemployed: up to 40% are predicted to work in jobs that don't require their degrees. In the midst of all this, how many will have heard, let alone processed, the messages of their commencement speakers?
But the rest of us can–and should. Commencement speeches may focus on the young, but they also hold a treasure trove of inspiring insights no matter how long ago you graduated. The best commencement speeches offer a new perspective on a familiar idea: keeping your head above the fray as you make your way in a rapidly changing world. This advice appeals to the beginner in each of us. As even the most seasoned workers adjust to disruptive technologies like AI, it feels like every day is a first. We are all commencing something.
The Buddhist “beginner’s mind” invites us to meet new challenges with openness and curiosity, to let go of firmly held beliefs and explore new ideas. A beginner's mind is the ultimate breather, clearing the cobwebs when we feel trapped by the status quo. This year’s crop of speeches offers a gold mine of career insights and trenchant reflections on the current moment. Here are four worth watching (and pondering).
Take Nothing At Face Value
In her speech at Harvard, Nobel Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa made an impassioned plea for protecting the integrity of information to safeguard a healthy society. Relating her story as a journalist in a repressive regime, her message is crystal clear: the current moment requires our best critical thinking to combat the polarization caused by campaigns of misinformation. “Without facts,” she said, “you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. And without these three, we have no shared reality, no rule of law and no democracy.” This is a fight, Ressa cautions, in which we are all foot soldiers. It starts with how we consume information every day. Because technology delivers so much of the data you need at work, increase your vigilance, ask extra questions and parse out the truth from the lies. Take nothing at face value and be an active skeptic. Poke holes in what you read and hear, scrutinize the sources and their intentions. AI may make things faster and easier, but it doesn’t necessarily make them right. Complacency is the enemy of truth.
Focus On One Point At A Time
Dartmouth hosted Roger Federer, widely considered the greatest tennis player of all time. Although he won 80% of his matches across his brilliant career, Federer told the graduates that he won only 54% of the points. “Even top-ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play.” His takeaway applies to far more than tennis. With such a significant chance of losing any single point, you learn to let go of each point once it’s played. After all, it’s just a point. “This mindset is really crucial,” he added, “because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next point after that, with intensity, clarity, and focus.” When you face an overwhelming list of things to do, imagine that each task is just a point. Focus on one at a time– with all the energy you can muster–and then move on when you’re done. The most effective people, Federer asserts, are not the ones that win every point, but those who learn from their losses, let go of disappointment and persevere to win the next one.
Share Stories To Deepen Understanding
It’s little surprise that master storyteller and documentarian Ken Burns spoke to the Brandeis University class about the power of story. History, he argues, reveals that human nature never changes. We muster our strengths in the face of hardship, but we are just as prone to be felled by our weaknesses: selfishness, greed, and a pernicious tendency toward binary thinking–us and them, right and wrong. But stories hold a unique power to cut through dialectical thinking, to help us balance personal rights with collective responsibility by persuading us to see things from a different vantage point. Stories, past and present, awaken the “kinship of the soul,” enabling us to see ourselves, understand others and narrow the gaps of perceived difference. These stories don’t have to be monumental. Your colleague’s story is just as powerful as a story from history or literature. Pause to tell your story, to ask someone else to tell theirs. There are no little stories, only windows into shared understanding.
Don’t Lose Your Sense Of Humor
In a punchy address, comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld urged the graduates at Duke University to let go of finding the perfect job, the “one great thing.” It’s not about uncovering your passion, he suggested, but awakening your fascination with the effort of learning something new. Because the magic is in the journey of becoming. You know you're on the right journey when you love the good parts but don’t mind the bad too much. The highlight of his quirky speech clearly comes from his heart: don’t lose your sense of humor. Because the world is a mess, he says, humor is the “survival-essential quality” you need, the “Stanley water bottle for the brutal long hike of life.” In a world that continues to dish out a never-ending stream of confusion, laughing alleviates stress and improves mental health. Clear-headed–and funny–wisdom for unusual times.
The commencement tradition dates back to the Middle Ages as a rite of passage for graduating students. But its power endures. Adapting to AI and rapidly changing workplaces can make even the most seasoned among us feel as green as new graduates. And that’s not a bad thing in a world where lifelong learning is the new degree requirement for every job. Commencement speeches are a rich and deep reminder that the journey of becoming is never over. And it's never too late to begin again and again.
First published on Forbes.com.
