“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
“Commencement” is a formal name given to graduation, which occurs at the end of some type of prolonged academic experience (usually secondary schools and colleges). “Commencement” means “the beginning,” and graduation is often called this because it is seen as the beginning of a stage in a student’s life. Essentially, the student is ending a lengthy period of time preparing for a stage that is about to begin.
A commencement address is a speech given to graduating students. A respected community member or other important speaker will deliver this speech as part of a graduation ceremony. Immediately after this address, students receive their diplomas.
In 2005, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple computers, delivered a commencement address called “Find What You Love” to the graduating class at Stanford University. The video of the speech is 14 minutes and 34 seconds long. In his speech, Jobs tells graduates three stories. From these stories, you will be able to find recommendations for living a quality life.
Go to the American Rhetoric Web site, where you will find video, audio, and text to the speech. Choose how you want to experience Jobs' speech. For instance, if you are a visual learner, you might watch the speech. If you are an auditory learner, you might listen to the speech. You could even listen to the speech while reading the text. However you choose to experience Jobs' address to the Stanford graduates, keep the following questions in mind:
1. What are the three stories he tells?
2. What themes about life can you take from these stories?
You should write these questions on a small piece of paper (with lots of space in between them) and take notes on the answers as you move through the speech.