Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Jim Bruce, Senior Fellow and Executive Coach at MOR Associates, and Professor of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus, and CIO, Emeritus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Jim may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.
Beginning in mid-May each year, this country’s some 4,000 colleges and universities hold commencement exercises. This year, over one million undergraduates and half a million post-graduates will have been awarded degrees by their institutions. At each of these graduation ceremonies, one or more speakers will offer their wisdom, which they hope the graduates may find helpful in their selected careers, no matter where their journey might take them. Here is some of the advice from 2025 commencement speeches that caught my attention:
Abraham Verghese
Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair for the Theory & Practice of Medicine, and Internal Medicine Clerkship Director at Stanford University Medical School, immigrant, and best-selling author.
Speaking at Harvard University’s Commencement, Verghese said “the decisions you will make in the future under pressure will say something about your character, while they also shape and transform you in unexpected ways. Make your decisions worthy of those who supported, nurtured, and sacrificed for you… and above all, make good use of your time.” Full transcript.
Jerome H. Powell
Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve
Powell spoke at Princeton University Commencement. He talked about his undergraduate years at Princeton, admitting that he did not make the best use of that time that he could have.
Fifty years later, he noted that he could tell you something he did not know then: The vast majority of what you need to know about work, about relationships, about yourself, about life, you have yet to learn. And that itself is a tremendous gift. Over the remainder of your life, you can—you must—continue to educate yourself and to grow as a person, becoming more focused on what really matters, more widely knowledgeable, better read, more disciplined, and more strategic. But also wiser, kinder, more empathetic, more generous, more loving, more forgiving of others and of yourself. Each of us is a work in progress. The possibilities for self-improvement are limitless.
Another thing he noted learning along the way: as you strive to reach your full potential, you will need to take risks and make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Take it from an expert! But the bigger mistake is to avoid taking risks.
A last and critical point. Your life matters—to the people you love and to the world at large. Fifty years from now, your integrity is all you have. Guard it carefully. Full transcript.
Erik Weihenmayer
Adventurer and author. He is best known for being the first blind person to solo Mount Everest and the only blind person to ascend the Seven Summits.
In his Commencement speech at the University of Arizona, he said, “One of my greatest rewards is to be able to share a message of possibility, especially with young people as they shape the vision that will be the foundation of their lives.”
A life of adventuring has helped Weihenmayer realize that there are three types of people in this world: Quitters, campers, and climbers. Weihenmayer is a climber. He didn’t waste any time in his speech talking about quitters, since there weren’t any in attendance. Campers, he said, start out climbing with excitement and hope but lose belief in themselves as they encounter adversity.
“Climbers are a rare group, and if I could see, I’d be looking at a lot of climbers out here. These are people who continue to figure out a way to grow and evolve and explore and challenge themselves every day of their lives until the day they die.”
But Weihenmayer also relates to the campers. When he became blind from a rare eye disease in middle school, he despaired about the help he needed to get around and about the joy he could hear his classmates having without him. “Going blind was scary, but not fully living – well, that was terrifying… Climbers understand that life is an ongoing, never-ending process of reaching out to the darkness when we don’t know what we’ll find.” Full speech.
Hank Green
Prolific digital content creator
MIT President Sally Kornbluth noted that many MIT students are captivated by CrashCourse and the way Green makes learning about complex science subjects accessible and fun. Green says, “If I could attribute my success, whatever it is, to anything besides luck, it’s that I literally can’t stop believing that there is any better use of time than learning something new.”
“And curiosity doesn’t just expand the number of tools you have and how well you’re able to use them, it expands your understanding of the problem space. And so maybe the advice is very simple. Just be curious about the world and you’ll have everything you need for the future and, look, it is almost that simple.” Full transcript.
Sully Sullenberger
Retired aircraft pilot, best known as the captain of US Airways Flight 154 when, after a bird strike, he successfully landed his aircraft on the Hudson River with no loss of life among the 155 people on board.
At Endicott College, he told graduates: “The truth is that no one of us knows what tomorrow may bring. Yet each of us has a responsibility to prepare ourselves for whatever may come. Whether it’s a crisis or an opportunity – if you aren’t prepared, you won’t meet your moment…Part of your education, your preparation, is to know how to handle change, especially as the pace of change globally accelerates and we now face huge challenges. We must be capable of independent critical thought, and when we make important decisions, we must take them based on facts, not fears or falsehoods.
Elliot Grange
Entrepreneur and record executive, one of the student speakers at Northeastern University’s commencement.
He told the audience “I’m here to tell you the two greatest things people have said to me: ’That’s impossible’ and ‘no’…In truth, there is very little in life we control. But, we can choose how we show up. You represent …. The future we haven’t seen, a future we can’t fully imagine, and won’t truly understand, until you build it. Each and every one of you were raised on speed, technology, and constant evolution. You shape culture, technology, business, and politics in ways we can’t yet fathom.” Full speech.
Jay Shetty
Best-selling author, an award-winning podcast host of On Purpose, purpose-driven entrepreneur and a former monk.
He spoke at Princeton University. Early in his remarks, Shetly noted that he had three choices growing up as an Indian immigrant and he choose monk. His parents were not happy and sent him to the TED Talk Why We Make Bad Decisions. So, when he was invited to speak at Princeton, his immediate thought was “I hope that I say something worthy of their time.” Self-doubt. The script of his speech provides a path to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, your self-doubt.
Jessica Sibley
Chief Executive Officer of Time
“Careers are marathons, not sprints. Take the long view. Pace yourself. And as you move forward, I encourage you to find and embrace grit, grind, and glam. Most days, your job will demand one of these; on a good day, maybe all three.”
The advice from 2025 commencement speeches offers many important lessons. I’ve picked one that I am personally going to work on in the coming weeks. I would encourage you to do so as well.
I trust that you will have a wonderful summer. . . . . . . . . jim
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