University of Waterloo 2023 Graduating Class Send Off
I’m truly honoured, to have the opportunity to address you here today.
These talks and speeches that you hear as you move forward into the next chapter of your life, should be some of the most important, truthful and inspiring messages that you’ll hear as you enter your professional career. I carry that weight, and I don’t take the responsibility lightly.
Before university, as someone who fell through the cracks, and did NOT benefit from what we used to consider the “normal way of learning”, I’ve always had an ability to tell when someone isn’t shooting straight with me.
What I mean by this is, I didn’t do well in an environment where I was told what to learn, what to wear, how to talk, and what to think.
In high school I didn’t accept my spot in life, like everyone else did.
I didn’t learn like everyone else did.
I didn’t have the same dreams or goals for my life as everyone else did.
And for that reason, my entire life was filled with friction, resistance, and doubt, from most people.
Nothing I did was what you would read about in the textbook of, “how to live life”.
The thoughts I had, and the path I took are the opposite of what “the people who knew better” would ever recommend.
Nothing I did fit the narrow boundaries of what was considered acceptable or, “smart”.
Yet despite that, I’m the one who’s been gifted the opportunity to share my story, and my message with the leaders of tomorrow.
You.
Because of this, and because I know how some of you feel, It’s my responsibility to treat you like peers.
Especially those of you going against the grain.
And because of that, I’m going to shoot it to you straight.
It’s no surprise, that we live in uncertain times.
People want to avoid this topic as though it’s not happening all around us.
And as though we can’t see it with our own two eyes.
People are polarized.
the economy is unstable to say the least.
And the consequences of this, have unjustly fallen on your shoulders.
But where others have failed, you, have a chance to succeed.
The current tension is proof that the old way of doing things didn’t work.
And for those of you that want it, for those of you that feel you were put on this earth to do more, you have an opportunity to shape the future in the way that YOU see it.
But, the only way to do this, is to be true to yourself.
To feel something, say something, and live for something not because it’s the “smart thing to do”, or the thing other people want you to do, but to live for something YOU believe in.
With that in mind, I want to leave you with three messages.
The first is, never let anybody convince you that hard work has gone out of style.
Hard work doesn’t mean slaving away for your boss.
Hard work is the representation of your absolute ability on full display for the world to see.
Not all of us will get a singular defining moment.
We won’t all play in the Super Bowl or give a closing argument at the Supreme Court where we can show the world if we’re talented or skilled enough.
But working hard for something you believe in is your chance to prove to yourself what you are capable of.
And if you truly give 100% of yourself to something, you will find pride in discovering what you are capable of.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing for a professor, working for your boss, or pursuing a hobby, our work, specifically our hard work, and what we choose to apply ourselves to is the sum of who we truly are.
Once you find pride in hard work, you are never working for anybody other than yourself. Remember that.
The second message is, seek responsibility.
We’re all told to seek happiness, yet very few people find true happiness.
People often like to say that happiness doesn’t come from money, and while there is truth to that…
What I can also confidently say is that giving up on your dreams, just settling on your goals and aspirations, and compromising on with what you believe to follow the crowd also doesn’t lead to happiness.
The world is not a happy place, and the contradiction of being told that we should all find happiness despite that, is why so many people feel anxious, lost, and disconnected and confused.
But just because the world is not a happy place doesn’t mean that it’s not still filled with opportunity, potential and beauty.
I believe that finding happiness, starts with finding responsibility.
Don’t seek happiness, seek responsibility.
Seek out a challenge, something that scares you.
Something the person you want to be, could accomplish, but something the person you are today isn't quite certain can be done.
Seek out something bigger than yourself and bigger than the search for happiness.
That pursuit of responsibility, the discipline it will take to live up to that responsibility, and the person you will inevitably become while fulfilling that responsibility is where true happiness rests.
I truly believe that nothing brings happiness, like the feeling of true pride in yourself, and the pure self love that comes from the realization of who you have become by daring to seek responsibility.
Find comfort in knowing that, If you are proud of who you are, you’ve already found happiness.
And finally, one thing that nobody can take from you.
One thing that is truly in your control,
are the connections you choose to make, and more importantly, the connections you choose to nurture.
As an outcast early on in my life, making connections, let alone “networking” had no value to me. I didn’t fit the mold.
I didn’t think or act the way everybody else did.
I couldn’t relate to the people all saying the same things and seeking out connections based on thoughts and ideals that were considered normal or popular.
It wasn’t until I got to the University of Waterloo that I found others who shared in my inability to connect, usually because of their own differing, contrarian, and unique opinions.
Ironically, through this inability to connect, we found connection.
We found connection through challenging, probing, and pushing back on not only each other’s ideas, but all ideas.
Through this we learned to share, we learned to think critically, we learned to debate, we learned stand up and find pride in the things that we felt deeply about.
We learned that through persuasion and passion, long held views, could be changed, if we really tried.
We learned to connect not based on the similarity of our thoughts and ideas, but through the shared acceptance, of many different thoughts and ideas.
We learned, not to judge, and through that, this academic environment, and this faculty to be specific, I learned the true meaning of connection.
I grew up in a world where you didn’t talk about politics or religion at the table. I now live in a world where we don’t talk at the dinner table because of the fear we may say something that gets us cancelled.
Connection is not about agreeing, it’s not about finding people who share the same thoughts and ideas and calling them friends. It’s about respect, it’s about listening without judging, it’s about being heard.
Take a good hard look at the people you’re sitting beside, this may be the last time you have access to the diversity of thought, of background, and of belief that you’re exposed to right now. Nurture it, because your ability to tap into the ideas and perspectives from the people you’ve met over the past four or five years will one of the greatest assets you invest in.
I leave you with these thoughts as you move on to this next chapter of your life.
Instead of focusing on happiness, seek responsibility.
Find something to work on that makes you want to put forward 100% of yourself, and find a sense of pride from that.
And as you reflect on your time at this university, remember that your own individual ideas, the ones that are strongly held, and fiercely defended, have the power to change the world.
Thank you and good luck.
