Oh my goodness! I’m at Harvard! Wow! To President Faust, my fellow honorans, Carl[Muller] that was so beautiful, thank you so much, and James Rothenberg, Stephanie Wilson,Harvard faculty, with a special bow to my friend Dr. Henry Lewis Gates. All of you alumni, with a special bow to theClass of ’88, your hundred fifteen million dollars. And to you, members of the Harvard class of2013! Hello! I thank you for allowing me to be a part ofthe conclusion of this chapter of your lives and the commencement of your next chapter. To say that I’m honored doesn’t even beginto quantify the depth of gratitude that really accompanies an honorary doctorate from Harvard. Not too many little girls from rural Mississippihave made it all the way here to Cambridge. And I can tell you that I consider today asI sat on the stage this morning getting teary for you all and then teary for myself, I considertoday a defining milestone in a very long and a blessed journey.
My one hope today is that I can be a sourceof some inspiration. I’m going to address my remarks to anybodywho has ever felt inferior or felt disadvantaged, felt screwed by life, this is a speech forthe Quad. Actually I was so honored I wanted to do somethingreally special for you. I wanted to be able to have you look underyour seats and there would be free master and doctor degrees but I see you got thatcovered already. I will be honest with you. I felt a lot of pressure over the past fewweeks to come up with something that I could share with you that you hadn’t heard beforebecause after all you all went to Harvard, I did not. But then I realized that you don’t haveto necessarily go to Harvard to have a driven obsessive Type A personality. But it helps. And while I may not have graduated from hereI admit that my personality is about as Harvard as they come. You know my television career began unexpectedly. As you heard this morning I was in the MissFire Prevention contest. That was when I was 16 years old in Nashville,Tennessee, and you had the requirement of having to have red hair in order to win upuntil the year that I entered. So they were doing the question and answerperiod because I knew I wasn’t going to win under the swimsuit competition. So during the question and answer period thequestion came “Why, young lady, what would you like to be when you grow up?” And by the time they got to me all the goodanswers were gone. So I had seen Barbara Walters on the “TodayShow” that morning so I answered, “I would like to be a journalist. I would like to tell other people’s storiesin a way that makes a difference in their lives and the world.” And as those words were coming out of my mouthI went whoa! This is pretty good! I would like to be a journalist. I want to make a difference. Well I was on television by the time I was19 years old. And in 1986 I launched my own television showwith a relentless determination to succeed at first. I was nervous about the competition and thenI became my own competition raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing, pushing myselfas hard as I knew. Sound familiar to anybody here? Eventually we did make it to the top and westayed there for 25 years. The “Oprah Winfrey Show” was number onein our time slot for 21 years and I have to tell you I became pretty comfortable withthat level of success. But a few years ago I decided, as you willat some point, that it was time to recalculate, find new territory, break new ground. So I ended the show and launched OWN, theOprah Winfrey Network. The initials just worked out for me. So one year later after launching OWN, nearlyevery media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop. Not just a flop, but a big bold flop theycall it. I can still remember the day I opened up USAToday and read the headline “Oprah, not quite standing on her OWN.” I mean really, USA Today? Now that’s the nice newspaper! It really was this time last year the worstperiod in my professional life. I was stressed and I was frustrated and quitefrankly I was actually I was embarrassed. It was right around that time that PresidentFaust called and asked me to speak here and I thought you want me to speak to Harvardgraduates? What could I possibly say to Harvard graduates,some of the most successful graduates in the world in the very moment when I had stoppedsucceeding? So I got off the phone with President Faustand I went to the shower. It was either that or a bag of Oreos. So I chose the shower. And I was in the shower a long time and asI was in the shower the words of an old hymn came to me. You may not know it. It’s “By and by, when the morning comes.” And I started thinking about when the morningmight come because at the time I thought I was stuck in a hole. And the words came to me “Trouble don’tlast always” from that hymn, “this too shall pass.” And I thought as I got out of the shower Iam going to turn this thing around and I will be better for it. And when I do, I’m going to go to Harvardand I’m going to speak the truth of it! So I’m here today to tell you I have turnedthat network around! So, when you’re down in the hole, when thatmoment comes, it’s really okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn what you thinkyou may have lost but then here’s the key, learn from every mistake because every experience,encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you intobeing more who you are. And then figure out what is the next rightmove. And the key to life is to develop an internalmoral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go. Because now and forever more when you Googleyourself your search results will read “Harvard, 2013”. And in a very competitive world that reallyis a calling card because I can tell you as one who employs a lot of people when I see“Harvard” I sit up a little straighter and say, “Where is he or she? Bring them in.” It’s an impressive calling card that canlead to even more impressive bullets in the years ahead: lawyer, senator, C.E.O., scientist,physicist, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes or late night talk show host. But the challenge of life I have found isto build a résumé that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be butit’s a story about who you want to be. It’s a résumé that doesn’t just tella story about what you want to accomplish but why. A story that’s not just a collection oftitles and positions but a story that’s really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble and findyourself stuck in a hole that is the story that will get you out. What is your true calling? What is your dharma? What is your purpose? For me that discovery came in 1994 when Iinterviewed a little girl who had decided to collect pocket change in order to helpother people in need. She raised a thousand dollars all by herselfand I thought, well if that little 9-year-old girl with a bucket and big heart could dothat, I wonder what I could do? So I asked for our viewers to take up theirown change collection and in one month, just from pennies and nickels and dimes, we raisedmore than three million dollars that we used to send one student from every state in theUnited States to college. That was the beginning of the Angel Network. And so what I did was I simply asked our viewers,“Do what you can wherever you are, from wherever you sit in life. Give me your time or your talent your moneyif you have it.” And they did. Extend yourself in kindness to other humanbeings wherever you can. And together we built 55 schools in 12 differentcountries and restored nearly 300 homes that were devastated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. So the Angel Network — I have been on theair for a long time — but it was the Angel Network that actually focused my internalG.P.S. It helped me to decide that I wasn’t goingto just be on TV every day but that the goal of my shows, my interviews, my business, myphilanthropy all of it, whatever ventures I might pursue would be to make clear thatwhat unites us is ultimately far more redeeming and compelling than anything that separatesme. Because what had become clear to me, and Iwant you to know, it isn’t always clear in the beginning because as I said I had beenon television since I was 19 years old. But around ’94 I got really clear. So don’t expect the clarity to come allat once, to know your purpose right away, but what became clear to me was that I washere on Earth to use television and not be used by it; to use television to illuminatethe transcendent power of our better angels. So this Angel Network, it didn’t just changethe lives of those who were helped, but the lives of those who also did the helping. It reminded us that no matter who we are orwhat we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and more importantly itbecomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort. I saw something on the “Bill Moore Show”recently that so reminded me of this point. It was an interview with David and FrancineWheeler. They lost their 7-year-old son, Ben, in theSandy Hook tragedy. And even though gun safety legislation tostrengthen background checks had just been voted down in Congress at the time that theywere doing this interview they talked about how they refused to be discouraged. Francine said this, she said, “Our heartsare broken but our spirits are not. I’m going to tell them what it’s liketo find a conversation about change that is love, and I’m going to do that without fightingthem.” And then her husband David added this, “Yousimply cannot demonize or vilify someone who doesn’t agree with you, because the minuteyou do that, your discussion is over. And we cannot do that any longer. The problem is too enormous. There has to be some way that this darknesscan be banished with light.” In our political system and in the media weoften see the reflection of a country that is polarized, that is paralyzed and is self-interested. And yet, I know you know the truth. We all know that we are better than the cynicismand the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle. Not my channel, by the way. We understand that the vast majority of peoplein this country believe in stronger background checks because they realize that we can upholdthe Second Amendment and also reduce the violence that is robbing us of our children. They don’t have to be incompatible. And we understand that most Americans believein a clear path to citizenship for the 12,000,000 undocumented immigrants who reside in thiscountry because it’s possible to both enforce our laws and at the same time embrace thewords on the Statue of Liberty that have welcomed generations of huddled masses to our shores. We can do both. And we understand. I know you do because you went to Harvard. There are people from both parties, and noparty, [who] believe that indigent mothers and families should have access to healthyfood and a roof over their heads and a strong public education because here in the richestnation on Earth, we can afford a basic level of security and opportunity. So the question is, what are we going to doabout it? Really, what are you going to do about it? Maybe you agree with these beliefs. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you care about these issues and maybethere are other challenges that you, Class of 2013, are passionate about. Maybe you want to make a difference by servingin government. Maybe you want to launch your own televisionshow. Or maybe you simply want to collect some change. Your parents would appreciate that about now. The point is your generation is charged withthis task of breaking through what the body politic has thus far made impervious to change. Each of you has been blessed with this enormousopportunity of attending this prestigious school. You now have a chance to better your life,the lives of your neighbors and also the life of our country. When you do that let me tell you what I knowfor sure. That’s when your story gets really good. Maya Angelou always says, “When you learn,teach. When you get, give. That my friends is what gives your story purposeand meaning.” So you all have the power in your own wayto develop your own Angel Network and in doing so, your class will be armed with more toolsof influence and empowerment than any other generation in history. I did it in an analog world. I was blessed with a platform that at itsheight reached nearly 20,000,000 viewers a day. Now here in a world of Twitter and Facebookand YouTube and Tumblr, you can reach billions in just seconds. You’re the generation that rejected predictionsabout your detachment and your disengagement by showing up to vote in record numbers in2008. And when the pundits said, they said theytalked about you, they said you’d be too disappointed, you’d be too dejected to repeatthat same kind of turnout in 2012 election and you proved them wrong by showing up ineven greater numbers. That’s who you are. This generation, your generation I know, hasdeveloped a finely honed radar for B.S. Can you say “B.S.” at Harvard? The spin and phoniness and artificial nastinessthat saturates so much of our national debate. I know you all understand better than mostthat real progress requires authentic — an authentic way of being, honesty, and aboveall empathy. I have to say that the single most importantlesson I learned in 25 years talking every single day to people, was that there is acommon denominator in our human experience. Most of us, I tell you we don’t want tobe divided. What we want, the common denominator thatI found in every single interview, is we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I have done over 35,000 interviews in my careerand as soon as that camera shuts off everyone always turns to me and inevitably in theirown way asks this question “Was that okay?” I heard it from President Bush, I heard itfrom President Obama. I’ve heard it from heroes and from housewives. I’ve heard it from victims and perpetratorsof crimes. I even heard it from Beyonce and all of herBeyonceness. She finishes performing, hands me the microphoneand says, “Was that okay?” Friends and family, yours, enemies, strangersin every argument in every encounter, every exchange I will tell you, they all want toknow one thing: was that okay? Did you hear me? Do you see me? Did what I say mean anything to you? And even though this is a college where Facebookwas born my hope is that you would try to go out and have more face-to-face conversationswith people you may disagree with. That you’ll have the courage to look themin the eye and hear their point of view and help make sure that the speed and distanceand anonymity of our world doesn’t cause us to lose our ability to stand in somebodyelse’s shoes and recognize all that we share as a people. This is imperative, for you as an individual,and for our success as a nation. “There has to be some way that this darknesscan be banished with light,” says the man whose little boy was massacred on just anordinary Friday in December. So whether you call it soul or spirit or higherself, intelligence, there is I know this, there is a light inside each of you, all ofus, that illuminates your very human beingness if you let it. And as a young girl from rural MississippiI learned long ago that being myself was much easier than pretending to be Barbara Walters. Although when I first started because I hadBarbara in my head I would try to sit like Barbara, talk like Barbara, move like Barbaraand then one night I was on the news reading the news and I called Canada “Can-a-da,”and that was the end of me being Barbara. I cracked myself up on TV. Couldn’t start laughing and my real personalitycame through and I figured out, oh gee, I can be a much better Oprah than I could bea pretend Barbara. I know that you all might have a little anxiety now and hesitation about leaving the comfort ofcollege and putting those Harvard credentials to the test. But no matter what challenges or setbacksor disappointments you may encounter along the way, you will find true success and happinessif you have only one goal, there really is only one, and that is this: to fulfill thehighest most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You want to max out your humanity by usingyour energy to lift yourself up, your family and the people around you. Theologian Howard Thurman said it best. He said, “Don’t ask yourself what theworld needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive andthen go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” The world needs … People like Michael Stolzenbergfrom Fort Lauderdale. When Michael was just 8 years old Michaelnearly died from a bacterial infection that cost him both of his hands and both of hisfeet. And in an instant, this vibrant little boybecame a quadruple amputee and his life was changed forever. But in losing who he once was Michael discoveredwho he wanted to be. He refused to sit in that wheelchair all dayand feel sorry for himself so with prosthetics he learned to walk and run and play again. He joined his middle school lacrosse teamand last month when he learned that so many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing wouldbecome new amputees, Michael decided to banish that darkness with light. Michael and his brother, Harris, created Mikeysrun.comto raise $1 million for other amputees — by the time Harris runs the 2014 Boston Marathon. More than 1,000 miles away from here thesetwo young brothers are bringing people together to support this Boston community the way theircommunity came together to support Michael. And when this 13-year-old man was asked abouthis fellow amputees he said this, “First they will be sad. They’re losing something they will neverget back and that’s scary. I was scared. But they’ll be okay. They just don’t know that yet.” We might not always know it. We might not always see it, or hear it onthe news or even feel it in our daily lives, but I have faith that no matter what, Classof 2013, you will be okay and you will make sure our country is okay. I have faith because of that 9-year-old girlwho went out and collected the change. I have faith because of David and FrancineWheeler, I have faith because of Michael and Harris Stolzenberg, and I have faith becauseof you, the network of angels sitting here today. One of them Khadijah Williams, who came toHarvard four years ago. Khadijah had attended 12 schools in 12 years,living out of garbage bags amongst pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers; homeless, goingin to department stores, Wal-Mart in the morning to bathe herself so that she wouldn’t smellin front of her classmates, and today she graduates as a member of the Harvard Classof 2013. From time to time you may stumble, fall, youwill for sure, count on this, no doubt, you will have questions and you will have doubtsabout your path. But I know this, if you’re willing to listento, be guided by, that still small voice that is the G.P.S. within yourself, to find outwhat makes you come alive, you will be more than okay. You will be happy, you will be successful,and you will make a difference in the world. Congratulations Class of 2013. Congratulations to your family and friends. Good luck, and thank you for listening.
My one hope today is that I can be a sourceof some inspiration. I’m going to address my remarks to anybodywho has ever felt inferior or felt disadvantaged, felt screwed by life, this is a speech forthe Quad. Actually I was so honored I wanted to do somethingreally special for you. I wanted to be able to have you look underyour seats and there would be free master and doctor degrees but I see you got thatcovered already. I will be honest with you. I felt a lot of pressure over the past fewweeks to come up with something that I could share with you that you hadn’t heard beforebecause after all you all went to Harvard, I did not. But then I realized that you don’t haveto necessarily go to Harvard to have a driven obsessive Type A personality. But it helps. And while I may not have graduated from hereI admit that my personality is about as Harvard as they come. You know my television career began unexpectedly. As you heard this morning I was in the MissFire Prevention contest. That was when I was 16 years old in Nashville,Tennessee, and you had the requirement of having to have red hair in order to win upuntil the year that I entered. So they were doing the question and answerperiod because I knew I wasn’t going to win under the swimsuit competition. So during the question and answer period thequestion came “Why, young lady, what would you like to be when you grow up?” And by the time they got to me all the goodanswers were gone. So I had seen Barbara Walters on the “TodayShow” that morning so I answered, “I would like to be a journalist. I would like to tell other people’s storiesin a way that makes a difference in their lives and the world.” And as those words were coming out of my mouthI went whoa! This is pretty good! I would like to be a journalist. I want to make a difference. Well I was on television by the time I was19 years old. And in 1986 I launched my own television showwith a relentless determination to succeed at first. I was nervous about the competition and thenI became my own competition raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing, pushing myselfas hard as I knew. Sound familiar to anybody here? Eventually we did make it to the top and westayed there for 25 years. The “Oprah Winfrey Show” was number onein our time slot for 21 years and I have to tell you I became pretty comfortable withthat level of success. But a few years ago I decided, as you willat some point, that it was time to recalculate, find new territory, break new ground. So I ended the show and launched OWN, theOprah Winfrey Network. The initials just worked out for me. So one year later after launching OWN, nearlyevery media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop. Not just a flop, but a big bold flop theycall it. I can still remember the day I opened up USAToday and read the headline “Oprah, not quite standing on her OWN.” I mean really, USA Today? Now that’s the nice newspaper! It really was this time last year the worstperiod in my professional life. I was stressed and I was frustrated and quitefrankly I was actually I was embarrassed. It was right around that time that PresidentFaust called and asked me to speak here and I thought you want me to speak to Harvardgraduates? What could I possibly say to Harvard graduates,some of the most successful graduates in the world in the very moment when I had stoppedsucceeding? So I got off the phone with President Faustand I went to the shower. It was either that or a bag of Oreos. So I chose the shower. And I was in the shower a long time and asI was in the shower the words of an old hymn came to me. You may not know it. It’s “By and by, when the morning comes.” And I started thinking about when the morningmight come because at the time I thought I was stuck in a hole. And the words came to me “Trouble don’tlast always” from that hymn, “this too shall pass.” And I thought as I got out of the shower Iam going to turn this thing around and I will be better for it. And when I do, I’m going to go to Harvardand I’m going to speak the truth of it! So I’m here today to tell you I have turnedthat network around! So, when you’re down in the hole, when thatmoment comes, it’s really okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn what you thinkyou may have lost but then here’s the key, learn from every mistake because every experience,encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you intobeing more who you are. And then figure out what is the next rightmove. And the key to life is to develop an internalmoral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go. Because now and forever more when you Googleyourself your search results will read “Harvard, 2013”. And in a very competitive world that reallyis a calling card because I can tell you as one who employs a lot of people when I see“Harvard” I sit up a little straighter and say, “Where is he or she? Bring them in.” It’s an impressive calling card that canlead to even more impressive bullets in the years ahead: lawyer, senator, C.E.O., scientist,physicist, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes or late night talk show host. But the challenge of life I have found isto build a résumé that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be butit’s a story about who you want to be. It’s a résumé that doesn’t just tella story about what you want to accomplish but why. A story that’s not just a collection oftitles and positions but a story that’s really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble and findyourself stuck in a hole that is the story that will get you out. What is your true calling? What is your dharma? What is your purpose? For me that discovery came in 1994 when Iinterviewed a little girl who had decided to collect pocket change in order to helpother people in need. She raised a thousand dollars all by herselfand I thought, well if that little 9-year-old girl with a bucket and big heart could dothat, I wonder what I could do? So I asked for our viewers to take up theirown change collection and in one month, just from pennies and nickels and dimes, we raisedmore than three million dollars that we used to send one student from every state in theUnited States to college. That was the beginning of the Angel Network. And so what I did was I simply asked our viewers,“Do what you can wherever you are, from wherever you sit in life. Give me your time or your talent your moneyif you have it.” And they did. Extend yourself in kindness to other humanbeings wherever you can. And together we built 55 schools in 12 differentcountries and restored nearly 300 homes that were devastated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. So the Angel Network — I have been on theair for a long time — but it was the Angel Network that actually focused my internalG.P.S. It helped me to decide that I wasn’t goingto just be on TV every day but that the goal of my shows, my interviews, my business, myphilanthropy all of it, whatever ventures I might pursue would be to make clear thatwhat unites us is ultimately far more redeeming and compelling than anything that separatesme. Because what had become clear to me, and Iwant you to know, it isn’t always clear in the beginning because as I said I had beenon television since I was 19 years old. But around ’94 I got really clear. So don’t expect the clarity to come allat once, to know your purpose right away, but what became clear to me was that I washere on Earth to use television and not be used by it; to use television to illuminatethe transcendent power of our better angels. So this Angel Network, it didn’t just changethe lives of those who were helped, but the lives of those who also did the helping. It reminded us that no matter who we are orwhat we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and more importantly itbecomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort. I saw something on the “Bill Moore Show”recently that so reminded me of this point. It was an interview with David and FrancineWheeler. They lost their 7-year-old son, Ben, in theSandy Hook tragedy. And even though gun safety legislation tostrengthen background checks had just been voted down in Congress at the time that theywere doing this interview they talked about how they refused to be discouraged. Francine said this, she said, “Our heartsare broken but our spirits are not. I’m going to tell them what it’s liketo find a conversation about change that is love, and I’m going to do that without fightingthem.” And then her husband David added this, “Yousimply cannot demonize or vilify someone who doesn’t agree with you, because the minuteyou do that, your discussion is over. And we cannot do that any longer. The problem is too enormous. There has to be some way that this darknesscan be banished with light.” In our political system and in the media weoften see the reflection of a country that is polarized, that is paralyzed and is self-interested. And yet, I know you know the truth. We all know that we are better than the cynicismand the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle. Not my channel, by the way. We understand that the vast majority of peoplein this country believe in stronger background checks because they realize that we can upholdthe Second Amendment and also reduce the violence that is robbing us of our children. They don’t have to be incompatible. And we understand that most Americans believein a clear path to citizenship for the 12,000,000 undocumented immigrants who reside in thiscountry because it’s possible to both enforce our laws and at the same time embrace thewords on the Statue of Liberty that have welcomed generations of huddled masses to our shores. We can do both. And we understand. I know you do because you went to Harvard. There are people from both parties, and noparty, [who] believe that indigent mothers and families should have access to healthyfood and a roof over their heads and a strong public education because here in the richestnation on Earth, we can afford a basic level of security and opportunity. So the question is, what are we going to doabout it? Really, what are you going to do about it? Maybe you agree with these beliefs. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you care about these issues and maybethere are other challenges that you, Class of 2013, are passionate about. Maybe you want to make a difference by servingin government. Maybe you want to launch your own televisionshow. Or maybe you simply want to collect some change. Your parents would appreciate that about now. The point is your generation is charged withthis task of breaking through what the body politic has thus far made impervious to change. Each of you has been blessed with this enormousopportunity of attending this prestigious school. You now have a chance to better your life,the lives of your neighbors and also the life of our country. When you do that let me tell you what I knowfor sure. That’s when your story gets really good. Maya Angelou always says, “When you learn,teach. When you get, give. That my friends is what gives your story purposeand meaning.” So you all have the power in your own wayto develop your own Angel Network and in doing so, your class will be armed with more toolsof influence and empowerment than any other generation in history. I did it in an analog world. I was blessed with a platform that at itsheight reached nearly 20,000,000 viewers a day. Now here in a world of Twitter and Facebookand YouTube and Tumblr, you can reach billions in just seconds. You’re the generation that rejected predictionsabout your detachment and your disengagement by showing up to vote in record numbers in2008. And when the pundits said, they said theytalked about you, they said you’d be too disappointed, you’d be too dejected to repeatthat same kind of turnout in 2012 election and you proved them wrong by showing up ineven greater numbers. That’s who you are. This generation, your generation I know, hasdeveloped a finely honed radar for B.S. Can you say “B.S.” at Harvard? The spin and phoniness and artificial nastinessthat saturates so much of our national debate. I know you all understand better than mostthat real progress requires authentic — an authentic way of being, honesty, and aboveall empathy. I have to say that the single most importantlesson I learned in 25 years talking every single day to people, was that there is acommon denominator in our human experience. Most of us, I tell you we don’t want tobe divided. What we want, the common denominator thatI found in every single interview, is we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I have done over 35,000 interviews in my careerand as soon as that camera shuts off everyone always turns to me and inevitably in theirown way asks this question “Was that okay?” I heard it from President Bush, I heard itfrom President Obama. I’ve heard it from heroes and from housewives. I’ve heard it from victims and perpetratorsof crimes. I even heard it from Beyonce and all of herBeyonceness. She finishes performing, hands me the microphoneand says, “Was that okay?” Friends and family, yours, enemies, strangersin every argument in every encounter, every exchange I will tell you, they all want toknow one thing: was that okay? Did you hear me? Do you see me? Did what I say mean anything to you? And even though this is a college where Facebookwas born my hope is that you would try to go out and have more face-to-face conversationswith people you may disagree with. That you’ll have the courage to look themin the eye and hear their point of view and help make sure that the speed and distanceand anonymity of our world doesn’t cause us to lose our ability to stand in somebodyelse’s shoes and recognize all that we share as a people. This is imperative, for you as an individual,and for our success as a nation. “There has to be some way that this darknesscan be banished with light,” says the man whose little boy was massacred on just anordinary Friday in December. So whether you call it soul or spirit or higherself, intelligence, there is I know this, there is a light inside each of you, all ofus, that illuminates your very human beingness if you let it. And as a young girl from rural MississippiI learned long ago that being myself was much easier than pretending to be Barbara Walters. Although when I first started because I hadBarbara in my head I would try to sit like Barbara, talk like Barbara, move like Barbaraand then one night I was on the news reading the news and I called Canada “Can-a-da,”and that was the end of me being Barbara. I cracked myself up on TV. Couldn’t start laughing and my real personalitycame through and I figured out, oh gee, I can be a much better Oprah than I could bea pretend Barbara. I know that you all might have a little anxiety now and hesitation about leaving the comfort ofcollege and putting those Harvard credentials to the test. But no matter what challenges or setbacksor disappointments you may encounter along the way, you will find true success and happinessif you have only one goal, there really is only one, and that is this: to fulfill thehighest most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You want to max out your humanity by usingyour energy to lift yourself up, your family and the people around you. Theologian Howard Thurman said it best. He said, “Don’t ask yourself what theworld needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive andthen go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” The world needs … People like Michael Stolzenbergfrom Fort Lauderdale. When Michael was just 8 years old Michaelnearly died from a bacterial infection that cost him both of his hands and both of hisfeet. And in an instant, this vibrant little boybecame a quadruple amputee and his life was changed forever. But in losing who he once was Michael discoveredwho he wanted to be. He refused to sit in that wheelchair all dayand feel sorry for himself so with prosthetics he learned to walk and run and play again. He joined his middle school lacrosse teamand last month when he learned that so many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing wouldbecome new amputees, Michael decided to banish that darkness with light. Michael and his brother, Harris, created Mikeysrun.comto raise $1 million for other amputees — by the time Harris runs the 2014 Boston Marathon. More than 1,000 miles away from here thesetwo young brothers are bringing people together to support this Boston community the way theircommunity came together to support Michael. And when this 13-year-old man was asked abouthis fellow amputees he said this, “First they will be sad. They’re losing something they will neverget back and that’s scary. I was scared. But they’ll be okay. They just don’t know that yet.” We might not always know it. We might not always see it, or hear it onthe news or even feel it in our daily lives, but I have faith that no matter what, Classof 2013, you will be okay and you will make sure our country is okay. I have faith because of that 9-year-old girlwho went out and collected the change. I have faith because of David and FrancineWheeler, I have faith because of Michael and Harris Stolzenberg, and I have faith becauseof you, the network of angels sitting here today. One of them Khadijah Williams, who came toHarvard four years ago. Khadijah had attended 12 schools in 12 years,living out of garbage bags amongst pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers; homeless, goingin to department stores, Wal-Mart in the morning to bathe herself so that she wouldn’t smellin front of her classmates, and today she graduates as a member of the Harvard Classof 2013. From time to time you may stumble, fall, youwill for sure, count on this, no doubt, you will have questions and you will have doubtsabout your path. But I know this, if you’re willing to listento, be guided by, that still small voice that is the G.P.S. within yourself, to find outwhat makes you come alive, you will be more than okay. You will be happy, you will be successful,and you will make a difference in the world. Congratulations Class of 2013. Congratulations to your family and friends. Good luck, and thank you for listening.
