Learn English John G. Roberts Jr. I wish you BAD LUCK with BIG subtitles

now around the country today at colleges

high schools middle schools commencement

speakers are standing before impatient

graduates and they are almost always

saying the same things they will say

that today is a commencement exercise it

is a beginning not an end you should

look forward and I think that is true

enough however I think if you’re going

to look forward to figure out where

you’re going it’s good to know where

it’s been and to look back as well and I

think if you look back to your first

afternoon here at cardigan perhaps

you’ll recall that you were lonely

perhaps you will recall that you were a

little scared a little anxious and now

look at you you are surrounded by

friends that you call brothers and you

are confident and facing the next step

in your education it is worth trying to

think why that is so and when you do I

think you may appreciate that it was

because of the support of your

classmates in the classroom on the

athletic field and in the dorms and as

far as the confidence goes I think you

will appreciate that it is not because

you succeeded at everything you did but

because with the help of your friends

you are not afraid to fail and if you

did fail you got up and tried again and

if you failed again you got up and try

it again

and if you failed again it might be time

to think about doing something else

it was not just success but not being

afraid to fail that brought you to this

point now the commencement speakers will

typically also wish you good luck and

extend good wishes to you I will not do

that and I’ll tell you why from time to

time in the years to come

I hope you will be treated unfairly so

that you will come to know the value of

justice I hope that you will suffer

betrayal because that will teach you the

importance of loyalty sorry to say but I

hope you will be lonely from time to

time so that you don’t take friends for

granted I wish you bad luck again from

time to time so that you will be

conscious of the role of chance in life

and understand that your success is not

completely deserved and that the failure

of others is not completely deserved

either and when you lose as you will

from time to time I hope every now and

then your opponent will bloat over your

failure it is a way for you to

understand the importance of

sportsmanship I hope you’ll be ignored

so you know the importance of listening

to others and I hope you will have just

enough pain to learn compassion whether

I wish these things or not they’re going

to happen and whether you you benefit

from them or not will depend upon your

ability to see the message in your

misfortunes now commencement speakers

are also expected to give some advice

they give grand advice and they give

some useful tips

the most common grand advice they give

is for you to be yourself it is an odd

piece of advice to give people dressed

identically

what you should and should be yourself

but you should understand what that

means unless you are perfect it does not

mean don’t make any changes this certain

sense you should not be yourself you

should try to become something better

people say be yourself because they want

you to resist the impulse to conform to

what others want you to be but you can’t

be yourself if you don’t learn who you

are and you can’t learn who you are

unless you think about it the Greek

philosopher Socrates said the unexamined

life is not worth living and while just

do it may be a good model for some

things it’s not a good model when it’s

trying to figure out how to live your

life that is before you and one

important clue to living a good life is

to not to try to live the good life the

best way to lose the values that are

central to who you are is frankly not to

think about them at all so that’s the

deep advice now some tips as you get

ready to go to your new school over the

last couple of years I’ve gotten to know

many of you young men pretty well and I

know you are good guys but you are also

privileged young men and if you weren’t

privileged when you came here you’re

privileged now because you have been

here my advice is don’t act like it when

you get to your new school walk up and

introduce yourself to the person who is

raking the leaves shoveling the snow or

emptying the trash learn their name and

call them by their name during your time

at the school another piece of advice

when you pass by people you don’t

recognize on the walks smile look them

in the eye and say hello the worst thing

that will happen is that you will become

known and is the young man who smiles

and says hello

and that is not a bad thing to start

with you’ve been in a school with just

voice most of you will be going to a

school with girls I have no advice for

you

the last bit of advice I’ll give you is

very simple but I think it could make a

big difference in your life once a week

you should write a note to someone not

an email a note on a piece of paper it

will take you exactly ten minutes talk

to an adult let them tell you what a

stamp is and you can put the stamp on

the envelope again ten minutes once a

week I will help you right now

I will dictate to you the first note you

should write it will say dear fill in

the name of the teacher at cardigan

Mountain School say I have started at

this new school we are reading blank in

English football or soccer practice is

hard but I’m enjoying it

thank you for teaching me put it in an

envelope put a stamp on it and send it

it will mean a great deal to people who

for reasons most of us cannot

contemplate have dedicated themselves to

teaching middle school boys as I said

that will take you exactly ten minutes a

week by the end of the school year you

will have sent notes to forty people

forty people will feel a little more

special because you did and they will

think you are very special because of

what you did now what else is going to

carry that dividend during your time at

school

enough advice I would like to end by

reading some important lyrics I cited

the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier

these lyrics are from the great American

philosopher Bob Dylan

they’re almost fifty years old he wrote

them for his son Jesse who he was

missing while he was on tour they list

the hopes that a parent might have for a

son and for a daughter

there are also good goals for a son and

a daughter the wishes are beautiful

they’re timeless they’re universal

they’re good and true except for one

it is the wish that gives the song its

title and its refrain that wish is a

parent’s lament it’s not a good wish so

these are the lyrics from Forever Young

by Bob Dylan may God bless you and keep

you always may your wishes all come true

may you always do for others and let

others do for you may you build a ladder

to the Stars and climb on every rung and

may you stay forever young may you grow

up to be righteous may you grow up to be

true may you always know the truth and

see the light surrounding you may you

always be courageous stand upright and

be strong and may you stay forever young

may your hands always be busy may your

feet always be Swift now you have a

strong foundation when the winds of

changes shift may your heart always be

joyful may your song always be sung and

may you stay forever young thank you