A low GI Dubya.Thank you very much, President Knapp, for that kind intro. Alex. Trustees.Faculty and deans of the University, my fellow on a raise. And especially you,the class of two thousand and Fifteen. Yes. Congratulations to you to yourfamily, to your friends that are attending today's ceremony. You made it. It'sa privilege, a rare privilege of a lifetime to be with you today. And I can'tthank you enough for making me an honorary colonial.
Before I begintoday,.they asked me to make a standard announcement you've heard this beforeabout silencing your phones, so those of you with an Iphone just place it insilent mode. If you don't have an Iphone, please pass it to the centre aisle.Apple has a world class recycling program.
You know,.thisis really an amazing place. And for a lot of you. I'm sure that being here inWashington, the very center of our democracy, was a big draw. When you werechoosing which school to go to. This place has a powerful pole. It was here,the Dr Martin Luther King challenged Americans to make real the promises ofdemocracy. To make justice? A reality for all of God's children. And it washere that President Ronald Reagan called on us to believe in ourselves and tobelieve in our capacity to perform great deeds. I'd like to start this morning.By telling you about my first visit here. In the summer of one thousand, ninehundred and seventy seven, Yes, I'm a little old. I was sixteen years old andliving in Robert's Dale, the small town in southern Alabama that I grew up inat the end of my junior year of high school, I had won an essay contestsponsored by the National Rural Electric Association. I can't remember whatthat essay was about, but what I do remember very clearly is writing it byhand. Draft after draft after draft. Typewriters were very expensive and myfamily could not afford one. I was one of two kids from Baldwin County. Therewas chosen to go to Washington, along with hundreds of other kids across thecountry. Before we left, the Alabama delegation took a trip to our statecapital in Montgomery for a meeting with the governor. The governor's name?With George C Wallace? The same George Wallace, who in one thousand ninehundred and sixty three, stood in the schoolhouse door at the University ofAlabama to block African Americans from enrolling. Wallis embraced the evils ofsegregation. He pitted whites against blacks. The South against the North. Theworking class against a so called de leads. Meeting my governor. was not anhonor for me. My heroes in life, where Dr Martin Luther King and Robert FKennedy, who had fought against the very things that wallet stood for. Keep inmind that I grew up, or when I grew up. I grew up in a place that were King andKennedy were not exactly held in high esteem. When I was a kid. The South wasstill coming to grips with its history. My textbooks even said the civil warwas about states' rights. They barely mention slavery. So I had to figure outfor myself what was right and true. It was a search. It was a process. It drew onthe moral sense that I learned from my parents. And in church and in my ownheart. And lead me on my own journey of discovery. I found books in the publiclibrary that they probably didn't know they had. They all pointed. To the fact.That Wallis was wrong. That injustice is like segregation have no place in ourworld. That equality is a right.
As I said,.I wasonly sixteen when I met Governor Wallace. So I shook his hand as we wereexpected to do. But shaking his hand. I felt like a betrayal of my own beliefs.It felt wrong. Like I was selling a piece of my soul. From Montgomery, we flewto Washington. It was the first time I'd ever been on an airplane. In fact, itwas the first time I'd ever traveled out of the South. On June, fifteenth, onethousand, nine hundred and seventy seven. I was one of nine hundred highschoolers greeted by the new President President Jimmy Carter on the South Lawnof the White House. Right there. On the other side of the ellipse. I was one ofthe lucky ones who got to shake his hand. Quarter saw Baldwin County on myname, tag that day and stopped to speak with me. You wanted to know how peoplewere doing after the rash of storms that it struck Alabama that year. Carterwas kind and compassionate. He held the most powerful job in the world. Bettyhad not sacrificed any of his humanity. I felt proud that he was President. AndI felt proud that he was from the South. In the space of the week, I'd comeface to face with two men who had guaranteed themselves a place in history.They came from the same region. They were from the same political party. Theywere both governors of adjoining states. But they looked at the world in verydifferent ways. It was clear to me that one was right. And one was wrong.Wallace had built his political career by exploiting divisions between us.Carter's message, on the other hand, was that we are all bound together. Everyone of us. Each had made a journey. That led them to the values that they livedby. But it wasn't just about their experiences or their circumstances, it hadto come from within. My own journey in life was just beginning. I hadn't evenapplied for college jet at that point. For new graduates. The process ofdiscovering yourself. Of inventing yourself. Of reinventing yourself is about tobegin in earnest. It's about finding your values and committing to live bythem. You have to find your North Star. And that means choices. Some are easy.Some are hard. And some will make you question everything. Twenty years aftermy visit to Washington, I met someone who made me question everything. Who haveended all of my assumptions in the very best way? That was Steve Jobs.
Steven built asuccessful company he had been sent away and he returned to find it inruins..He didn't know it at the time, but he was about to dedicate the rest ofhis life to rescuing it. And leading it to heights greater than anyone couldever imagine. Anyone that is. Except for Steve. Most people have forgotten, butin one thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine, seven an early one thousand,nine hundred and ninety eight, Apple had been adrift for years. Rudderless. ButSteve thought Apple could be great again, and he wanted to know if I'd like tohelp. His vision for Apple was a company that turned powerful technology intotools that were easy to use. Tools that would help people realize their dreamsand change the world for the better. I had studied to be an engineer and earnedan MBA. I was trained to be pragmatic, a problem solver. Now I found myselfsitting before in listening to this very animated fortysomething guy. Withvisions of changing the world. It was not what I had expected. You see? When itcame to my career in one thousand, nine hundred and ninety eight. I was alsoaddressed. Rudderless. I knew who I was in my personal life. And I kept my eyeon my north star my responsibility to do good for someone else other thanmyself. But at work. Well, I always figured that work was work. That I use hadtheir place, and yes, there were things that I wanted to change about the world.But I thought I'd have to do that on my own time. Not in the office. Stevedidn't see it that way. He was an idealist. And in that way he reminded me ofhow I felt as a teenager. In that first meeting, he convinced me that if weworked hard and made great products. We two could help change the world. And tomy surprise, I was hooked. I took the job. And changed my life. It's beenseventeen years and I have never once looked back. At Apple, we believe thework should be more than just about improving your own self. It's aboutimproving the lives of others as well. Our products do amazing things. And justas Steve envisioned, they empower people all over the world. People who areblind. In need, information read to them because they can't see the screen.People for whom technology is a lifeline because they are isolated by distanceor disability. People who witness injustice and want to expose it, and now theycan, because they have a camera in their pocket all the time.
Our commitmentgoes beyond the products themselves to how they're made to our impact on theenvironment,.to the role we play in demanding and promoting equality. And animproving education. We believe that a company that has values and acts on themcan really change the world. And an individual can too. That can be you. Thatmust be you. Graduates your values matter, they are your North star, and whattakes on new meaning when you feel you're pointed in the right direction.Otherwise it's just a job. And life is too short for that. We need the best andbrightest of your generation to lead, in government and in business, in thescience and in the yards, in journalism and in academia. There's honor in allof these pursuits. And there's opportunity to do work that's infused with moralpurpose. You don't have to choose between doing good and doing well. It's afalse choice. today, more than ever. Your challenge is to find work that paysthe rent, puts food on the table and lets you do what is right and good. andjust.
Find your NorthStar,.let it guide you in life. And work. And in your life's work. Now Isuspect. Some of you aren't buying this. I won't take it personally. It's nosurprise that people are skeptical. Especially here in Washington. Where thesedays you got plenty of reason to be. And a healthy amount of skepticism isfine. Low too often in this town, it turns to cynicism. To the idea that, nomatter who's talking or what they're saying that their motives arequestionable, their character is suspect. And if you search hard enough. Youcan prove that they're lying. Maybe that's just the world we live in. Butgraduates, this is your world to change. As I said, I'm a proud son of theSouth. It's my home and I'll always love it. But for the last seventeen years,I built a life in Silicon Valley. It's a special place, the kind of place wherethere's no problem that can't be solved, no matter how difficult or complex.That's part of its essential quality. A very sincere sort of optimism. Back inthe nineties, Apple ran an advertising campaign. We call to think different. Itwas pretty simple. Every ad was a photograph of one of our heroes. People whohad the audacity to challenge. And change the way we all live. People likeGandhi and Jackie Robinson, Martha Graham and Albert Einstein. Amelia Earhartand Miles Davis. These people still inspire us. They remind us to live by ourdeepest values and reach for our highest aspirations. They make us believe thatanything is possible. A friend of mine, an Apple, likes to say the best way tosolve the problem is to walk into a room full of Apple engineers and proclaim.This is impossible. I can tell you they will not accept that. And neithershould you. So that's the one thing I'd like to bring to you all the way fromCupertino, California. The idea that great progress is possible, whatever lineof work you choose. There will always be cynics and critics on the sidelines,tearing people down. And just as harmful. Are those people with goodintentions? Who make no contribution at all? In its letter from a Birminghamjail, Dr King wrote that our society needed to repent. Not merely for thehateful words of the bad people. But for the appalling silence of the goodpeople.
The sidelinesare not where you want to live your life..The world needs you in the arena.There are problems that need to be solved. Injustices that need to be ended.The people that are still being persecuted. Diseases. Still, in need of cure.No matter what you do next, the world needs your energy, your passion. Yourimpatience with progress. Don't shrink from risk. And tune out those criticsand cynics. History rarely yields to one person. But think. And never forget.What happens when it does? That can be you. That should be you. That must beyou.
Geologic,.Congratulations,Class of Two thousand and Fifteen. I'd like to take one photo of you becausethis is the best beer in the world. And it's a great one. Thank you very much.
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