Commencement Address - Class of 2021

Introduction

• Speaker has spoken at various prestigious venues
• Admits to underestimating the difficulty of giving a commencement speech
• Aims to inspire and not fail the audience

Message: Embrace Failure

• Common graduation messages vs. a unique one: Hope you fail
• Failure is essential and transformative

Personal Story of Failure

• Speaker's own struggles, including a suicide attempt
• Key message: Passion and growth often stem from failures and pain

Risk and Vulnerability

• Several risky decisions culminating in writing a memoir
• Sharing failures despite advice otherwise

Humor to Engage Audience

• Joke about not providing gifts like Oprah or paying off debts

Lessons from Failure

• Failure commonality among successful individuals
• Empathy is the greatest gift derived from failure
• Personal transformation due to others’ empathy

Pivotal Story of Academic Failure

• Plagiarism incident and the encounter with a compassionate professor
• Importance of educators and mentors who show empathy and offer support
• Overcoming disdain for teachers and gaining trust

Empathy as Agent of Change

• Empathy’s power to break barriers and lead to genuine change
• Example of how empathy from a professor changed the speaker’s life
• Importance of becoming servant leaders in respective fields

Final Thoughts

• Entreatment to be agents of change through empathy and service
• Poignant question and realization: Why me?
• Failures preparing one for future impact and purpose
• Encouragement to take risks: Do it afraid

Closing

• Encouragement to conquer the world with lessons learned from failure
• Congratulations to the graduates and a call to fail forward, find voice, and blaze new trails