Commencement Speech Notes

Introduction

• Speaker honored to be present at the graduation
• Personal background: did not graduate from college

Story 1: Connecting the Dots

• Dropped out of Reed College after 6 months
• Background: Adopted by parents who promised biological mother I would go to college
• Financial burden: College tuition was draining parents' savings
• Decision to drop out:
  • Uncertainty about future and college's role
  • Freed to explore other interests
• Example of calligraphy class:
  • Learned about typography
  • Impact on later design of Macintosh computer
• Key takeaway:
  • "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."
  • Trust that everything will connect in the future

Story 2: Love and Loss

• Found passion early in life: started Apple in garage at age 20
• Apple grew rapidly to a $2 billion company
• Experience of being fired at age 30:
  • Initially devastating; felt like a failure
  • Realized love for work remained unchanged
• Started over:
  • Founded Next and Pixar
  • Pixar created "Toy Story" and became a successful animation studio
• Returning to Apple after being bought by them:
  • Technology from Next contributed to Apple's revival
• Key takeaway:
  • "You've got to find what you love... Don't settle."

Story 3: Death

• Personal reflection on mortality:
  • Quote about living each day as if it were the last
  • Diagnosed with cancer: faced potential death
• Experience of a rare, treatable form of pancreatic cancer
  • Importance of valuing life and choices
• Death as a change agent:
  • Clears out the old to make way for the new
  • Emphasis on not wasting time living someone else's life
• Key takeaway:
  • "Stay hungry, stay foolish."

Conclusion

• Farewell message from the Whole Earth Catalog:
  • Encouragement to stay curious and adventurous
• Final wish to graduates:
  • "Stay hungry, stay foolish."