Congratulations to the graduating class of 2020.
I don't have to tell you that you're graduating
during an unprecedented moment in our history.
This is my first-ever graduation speech
and it's certainly not how I imagined it
just as I'm sure it's not
how you imagined receiving your degrees.
I wanted to address the class of 2020
because I feel for you right now.
I know that this crisis has taken away
from many of you your last couple of months in school
and the important moments that you've looked forward to
and worked hard toward over years.
For that, I'm sorry.
I truly am.
No one saw this coming, but here we are.
Together,
apart.
But given that what you've been challenged with
is truly unprecedented and nothing you can compare it with
to help plan for the future,
you have to invent a new future for yourselves.
When I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1983,
the outlook was not bright.
The U.S. was laid into a deep recession,
the worst in fact since the Great Depression.
On graduation day, only 10 people
from my chemical engineering class had job offers.
Just two years earlier, my fellow ChemE majors
each had multiple offers to choose from.
At the time, it felt as if the world had turned upside down.
I was one of the lucky few to have an offer that year,
but we felt like we were members
of a lost generation just then,
heading off into such an uncertain world.
It would have been inconceivable at that time
to imagine the progress that would occur
in the 37 years since my graduation,
increases in life expectancy,
health and education around the world,
creation of industries we would not have even imagined
from biotechnology to renewable energy to social media
and breakthroughs in science and technology
that have improved lives
and opened up so many new areas of opportunity.
In the middle of an extremely dark moment,
it's easy to lose sight of the human progress
that's occurred and the opportunity
to create a brighter future for ourselves,
our families and our communities.
I deeply believe that even in dark times the opportunities
for talented, committed, ambitious people
to make positive change are great.
It may not feel that way for some of you at this moment,
but examples across the world
and across human history are many.
You're facing a very different challenge
from the one my generation faced in 1983.
When we graduated, it felt like the world was stuck,
maybe even moving backwards.
Today, the world around us right now
is changing at warp speed.
Of course, we see that in the pandemic
that spread so quickly around the world.
But this faster rate of change was evident long
before COVID-19 in the advance of digital technology,
increasing connectivity, medical technologies
and artificial intelligence,
along with the increasing global interdependence
we see in tackling the massive climate change challenge
and creating a more sustainable planet
for us and for generations to come.
Your education has given you a foundation of deep knowledge,
but knowledge will only get you so far.
In fact, in our world today,
how much you know will increasingly become table stakes
in a world in which so much knowledge sits
in the devices in our hands.
How fast and effectively we can learn
and how collaboratively we team with each other
to solve problems and drive change
will be the real differentiators
to build a successful career
and to make a difference in our communities.
Embrace the power of the degree you've obtained
and use it as a doorway to future opportunities.
But don't stop there.
To capture opportunities that both fulfill you
and drive impact, you have to keep looking
for more doors, opening them
and stepping into what comes next.
You'll be amazed by what you can do
if you keep two goals in mind.
First, you have to maintain a personal growth mindset.
In both big and small moments throughout your life,
be open to change and growth within yourself.
Your health, your relationships, your career
and so much more depend on it.
I'm over 35 years into my career
and I find my own learning curve
to be as steep as it has ever been
sometimes in ways that are predictable,
like trying to educate myself
about the impact of artificial intelligence
and sometimes in ways I would have never imagined
like how to start an economy after a pandemic.
Second, be persistent.
Persistence is easy to talk about and hard to do.
Think of it as requiring three elements,
being ready, willing and able.
And here's what I mean.
Readiness is about aspiration.
You have to maintain a vision
that motivates, excites and renews you.
And it's okay if that vision changes over time,
but it has to be powerful enough
to keep you going when times get tough.
Willingness takes courage.
Trust in yourself, even in uncertain, darker times,
to carry on through the challenges and struggles
that accompany all big ambitions.
Often we're more courageous if we have others around us
to discuss our fears and to support us.
I've observed many times
that teams built on trust are often braver and wiser
to navigate adversity than individuals are alone.
And being able, the third ingredient
of persistence, requires resilience.
Resilience is partly internal,
our own intestinal fortitude,
but it is also about thinking ahead
to prepare for a rainy day
and the support network we have around us
in our family, our friends, and colleagues.
In a world facing extreme challenge,
it's so important not to lose sight
of what you want to build.
That persistence will serve you for the rest of your life.
A year ago, I went to Ann Arbor
to see my son graduate from my alma mater.
Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer,
spoke to the class of 2019 about the amazing things
she had already seen from your generation,
strong, creative, independent thinkers determined
to do something whether about climate change,
gun control or the inequities that exist in the world.
"Where do you want to go?" she asked that class,
expressing the faith she had in their ability
to go anywhere, do anything and improve the world.
Governor Whitmer's words were spoken
in a very different context from where we are today
with the stresses we all feel around health,
employment and an uncertain economy.
But what she said could not be more relevant today.
It might not feel like it at the moment,
but you can find opportunity and hope
through these difficult times.
Keep opening doors for yourselves.
Keep walking through them.
With a willingness to let yourselves grow, change and learn,
not just now but always and with persistence driving you,
the opportunities are limitless for you to make a difference
and create a sense of fulfillment in your own lives.
Again, I wish you all my sincerest congratulations
and hopes for bright futures.
The world needs you and you can move the world.