Commencement Speech by Steve Jobs

Introduction

Background: Dropped out from Reed College after 6 months, stayed as a drop-in for 18 months.
Adoption Story:
- Biological mother was a young unwed graduate student.
- Adopted by parents who promised to send him to college.
College Experience:
- Attended expensive college, struggled to see its value.
- Dropped out to pursue interests without constraints of required classes.
Calligraphy Class:
- Took a class on calligraphy, learned about typography.
- Skills acquired became valuable when designing the first Macintosh.
- Key takeaway: You can only connect the dots looking backwards; trust that they will connect in the future.

Starting Apple:
- Co-founded Apple in a garage at age 20, grew to a $2 billion company.
- Released Macintosh but was fired at age 30 due to diverging visions with the company's board.
Reflection on Failure:
- Initially devastated but realized he still loved what he did.
- Started new ventures: Next and Pixar, leading to creative successes.
- Apple later bought Next, leading to Jobs' return.
- Lesson: Find what you love and don’t settle.

Life Perspective:
- Quote: "If you live each day as if it was your last..."
- Regularly asked himself if he would want to do what he was about to do each day.
Health Scare:
- Diagnosed with a rare and initially incurable pancreatic cancer.
- Biopsy revealed it was curable with surgery, leading to recovery.
Reflection on Death:
- Death is a universal experience and can clear the old to make way for the new.
- Emphasis on living authentically and following one's heart and intuition.

Final Message:
- Reference to the Whole Earth Catalog's farewell message: "Stay hungry, stay foolish."
- Encouragement for graduates to embrace curiosity and creativity.
- A call to live life fully and authentically.