1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year, 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: but they can also be the most stressful, and with 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: the threat of COVID nineteen still looming, emotions are high 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 1: and can be overwhelming. Cal Hope can help with free 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: emotional support for you and your loved ones this holiday season. 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: Call eight three three three one seven four six seven 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: three or live chat at cal Hope dot org. Today 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: at Metro by T Mobile, we're giving you more with 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: the Big five G upgrade. 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Commencement Speeches for the Class of 26 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: twenty is a production of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, Faculty, 27 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: rising graduates. Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year 28 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: is a little different at difficult time to graduate because 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: the traditional graduation day has been put on hold, So 30 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: we're bringing it to you wherever you are because this 31 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: is still your day, your moments, and now put your 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: hands together. It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: speaker the one and only Josh Clark. Dear students, congratulations 34 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: on reaching this point in your life. It's a big 35 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: deal and you should be proud of yourself now that 36 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: you've gotten here. I've come to fill you in on 37 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: a little secret you've been told for practically your whole life. 38 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: Now how special you are, how singularly important you are, 39 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: how packed with uniqueness you are. And that is true. 40 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: You are special and unique and you are important. But 41 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: your parents and teachers haven't been telling you the whole 42 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: truth all of your life. They've only been showing you 43 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: a part of the bigger picture. Surely you've noticed of 44 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: this throughout the time that you were in school, Like 45 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: when you got older and suddenly the stories in history 46 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: class began to get a lot darker. They told you 47 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: all those same stories when you were younger. They just 48 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: arranged the picture without all of the pieces to keep 49 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: you from truly understanding. And perhaps you resented it when 50 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: you realize the whole truth have been kept from you. 51 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: That's understandable. Most of us do feel that way. But 52 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: don't waste your time stewing on this. Each generation does 53 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: it to the next. They think it protects the young, 54 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: when really it just keeps things as they are. The 55 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: important thing here is to learn from that experience, because 56 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: people are going to continue to do this to you 57 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: your whole life. People will try to lay out the 58 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: pieces of the truth that fit together to make the 59 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: picture they want you to see. It's a way to 60 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: get people to do what you want them to, and 61 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: throughout your life you will get this from all sorts 62 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: of people. People you're friends with, people you love, people 63 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: on television, people on the internet, people running your government, 64 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: people running other people's governments. Your actions and your thoughts 65 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: are powerful and influential, and people want to sway them. 66 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: This means that you will have to learn to think 67 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: for yourself, do your own research, seek out people who 68 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: are experts on the topic, talk to other people. In 69 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: this day and age, it's not enough to trust your 70 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: eyes or your ears. You have to put in work 71 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: to find the truth. Don't be lazy. Find the truth. 72 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: It's not necessarily what's on the news. It's also not 73 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: necessarily what's in some video that says the news is lying. 74 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: Always remember this. Whatever someone is showing you, they're probably 75 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: only showing you part of the picture. It's up to 76 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: you to fill in the rest of the pieces that 77 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: make up the whole truth. And maybe you'll never find it. 78 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: That's okay. It would be exhausting to spend your life 79 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,119 Speaker 1: constantly search for the truth, constantly paranoid that every person 80 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: you speak to is manipulating you. Don't do that. That's 81 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: not what life is about, and people aren't that mean 82 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: at their core. Most people don't even realize they're showing 83 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: you an incomplete picture, and usually they're not doing it 84 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: for nefarious purposes when they do. Instead, the vast majority 85 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: of people are just passing along an incomplete picture that 86 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: someone else showed them. This happens a lot. It's a 87 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: big problem. So to keep from dying of exhaustion by 88 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: age thirty all haggard and paranoid and upset, do two things. 89 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: One decide if something is important enough to you or 90 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: the world to search out the missing pieces to find 91 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: the truth of the matter. Sometimes all it takes is 92 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: an effective Google search and taking the time to read 93 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: a couple of reliable articles. But remember that even if 94 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: you do search high and low, you may never find 95 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: the truth about whatever it is you're trying to understand. 96 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: So it better be important if you're going to go 97 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: looking for the truth of a matter. And two, if 98 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: it's not important, shrug it off. You will never know everything. 99 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: You'll never know most things. Some things will be important 100 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: enough for you to search for most will not be. 101 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: But if you decide it's not that important, then and 102 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: this is really important, don't pass along the incomplete picture 103 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: to others. When you do that, you are shaping someone 104 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: else's view of things. They trust you. They know you're 105 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: a good person with the good of the world at heart, 106 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: so why would you lie throughout your life? People will 107 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: listen to what comes out of your mouth, So be 108 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,280 Speaker 1: careful that you believe in what you say. But back 109 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: to what I was saying before about your parents and 110 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: teachers giving you an incomplete picture. I hope you understand 111 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: a little better now that they don't mean any harm 112 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: by it. They might think they were protecting you all 113 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: these years by keeping ugly truths from you. But those 114 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,159 Speaker 1: ugly truths, hard as they can be to take, are 115 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: what allow us to grow as people. If you see 116 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: a beautiful flower, you admire it and are glad that 117 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: it's there. If you see a weed growing, though, you 118 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: pull it. But if the people around you are telling 119 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: you that the weed you're seeing is actually a flower, 120 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: it's hard to know otherwise, and it's even harder to 121 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: know that the weeds should be pulled. Remember that your 122 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: parents and your teachers weren't lying to you because they 123 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: wanted to deceive you. Their parents and their teachers showed 124 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: them pictures of weeds that grow in our world and 125 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: told them that they were flowers too, And their parents, parents, 126 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: and their teachers teachers told them some weeds have been 127 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: called flowers for so long that no matter what you 128 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: say to some people, they will fight you tooth and 129 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: nail that the weed is a flower. That's their truth, 130 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: and people are deeply protective of what they hold to 131 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: be true, even when it's not true at all. Part 132 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: of the reason they'll fight and argue with you when 133 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: you tell them a flower is actually a weed is 134 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: just simple laziness. It takes a lot more effort to 135 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: pull a weed than it does to pretend it's a flower. 136 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: But the bigger reason they'll argue is because they don't 137 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: want to believe they've been wrong all this time. The 138 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: thing is, no matter how long everyone's called a weed 139 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: a flower, there's some aspects to a weed that a 140 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: flower doesn't have that will always give a weed away, 141 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: like hurting people. If something that people you know say 142 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: is a flower harms other people, it's really a weed. 143 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,839 Speaker 1: Weeds can hurt people in all kinds of ways. Maybe 144 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: they give rights to some people but not to others. 145 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: Maybe they make it so some people have more wealth 146 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: and power than they could ever possibly use, while other 147 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: people have so little they can't barely scrape by other 148 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: Weeds make it so that when some people hurt other 149 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: people or other life or the play in it, they 150 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: don't get in trouble for it. If you suspect a 151 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: flower is really a weed, and you look at it 152 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: closely enough, you'll see that the people who say it's 153 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: a flower are the ones who get all the benefits 154 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: from it. And you'll also find there's a whole other 155 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: group of people out there who've been calling it a 156 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: weed all this time. It's just that nobody's listened to them. 157 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: And sometimes it's even worse than that. Sometimes those people 158 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: are told that their own flowers are weeds. So what 159 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: does all of this have to do with you being 160 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: special and unique? Excellent question, And actually that's the whole 161 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: point of everything. It's not a lie that you are 162 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: special and unique. You are both of those things, but 163 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: not simply because you're you, as you've been led to 164 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: believe all these years. That's an incomplete picture of the 165 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: whole truth. You are special and unique because you were 166 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: born a human being. All human beings are special and unique, 167 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: not just as individuals, but the whole human race. Every 168 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: one of us is special. Every one of us is unique, 169 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: and the same goes not just for human beings but 170 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: for all living things. Life is special, and in this way, 171 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,959 Speaker 1: every single person that you will ever meet in your 172 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: entire life is as valuable and worthwhile as you are. 173 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: Some of these other people you'll meet, we'll disagree with you, 174 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: and some of them may harm you. Just because a 175 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: person is unique and special doesn't mean that they're good. 176 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: But as hard as it can be to remember, sometimes 177 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: never forget that, on the whole, human beings are generally good. 178 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: They generally care about each other, they generally want what's best, 179 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: and most just don't forget that humanity is generally good. 180 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: It's just that sometimes other people don't recognize a flower 181 00:10:49,080 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: is really a weed. You can find a reflection of 182 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: incredible commencement addresses from all your favorite speakers at the 183 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: Commencement Podcast on I Heart Radio or wherever you listen 184 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: to podcasts.