Don’t Wait

Can’t remember how I came across this, but I did and boy am I glad.

‘Tis the season for commencement speeches and I’ve always been intrigued by them. I don’t remember any of the commencement speeches from any of my ceremonies. Why? Because we didn’t have any one cool giving them. Or what they said just didn’t resonate with me.

Just reading Robert Krulwich‘s for Berkeley’s  Graduate School of Journalism gave me the chills. And I wasn’t even there sitting in a cap and gown hearing it for myself. I’ve included some of my favorite excerpts, but I recommend reading the whole thing in it’s entirety, though beware, it’s a long one…clocks in at 5,000+ words. So make sure you’ve got some time, as we know, it’s rude to get up half way through someone’s speech.

“But there are some people, who don’t wait. I don’t know exactly what going on inside them; but they have this… hunger. It’s almost like an ache. Something inside you says I can’t wait to be asked I just have to jump in and do it.”

“This is the era of Friends in Low Places. The ones you meet now, who will notice you, challenge you, work with you, and watch your back. Maybe they will be your strength.”

“If you can… fall in love, with the work, with people you work with, with your dreams and their dreams. Whatever it was that got you to this school, don’t let it go. Whatever kept you here, don’t let that go. Believe in your friends. Believe that what you and your friends have to say… that the way you’re saying it – is something new in the world.”