best quotes from commencement speeches

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Brian Kenny -
Sportscaster

...
NUMBER THREE:
There's No THERE, THERE. That's from the writer Gertrude Stein. She's right. There's not there. That elusive "there" with the job, the beach house, the dream, it's not out there. There is here. It's in you... right now. That real happiness, real contentment has to be IN you regardless of professional achievement and amount of wealth. It's not magically appearing with a job and a paycheck. When you're young and struggling it's easy to think; "If I could just get that job... get that girl... get that guy... that car... that house…that salary..." “If I could just get THERE... I would have it all." I could finally be happy. BUT THERE'S NOT THERE. I'll give you an example: I host a boxing show called Friday Night Fights. Each week, we bring in a boxer to interview. Now most of these men are World Champions. I deal ONLY in the winner's bracket. I don't even see the guys who lose! And yet ALL these men tell the same story - they work, and work, and work. Literally fighting their way to the top - in obscurity, for years. All the time thinking, "When I'm champ…when I'm champ…things are going to be different when I'm the champ". That elusive goal achieved by SO FEW... and when those VERY FEW actually get there, they realize, nothing's changed. The money is usually a bit better, but you can still end up just as broke. You can have a bigger entourage, but you don't know how many of them are truly your friends. Fans might treat you with more respect, but if you didn't get there already feeling like you were already championship caliber, it doesn't magically come over you. Reaching your goals doesn't change who you are; believe me. When I boxed, I trained alongside a kid in Upstate New York. The teenager couldn't wait to be champ, and thought ALL would be great when he won the heavyweight title and fulfilled his destiny. This kid COULD NOT MISS. And he actually accomplished what he set out to do. I'm talking about Mike Tyson. He found that winning the title was the beginning of the journey, not the end. Achievement and wealth were not an elixir for his problems. No there. Remember that. You are THERE, now.

NUMBER FOUR:
Life is Short, BUT, actually might go on for a long time, so you'd better become good at something. In just a few years you will go to your High School reunion, the 10-yr reunion. It's coming sooner than you think. Something to think about: Not everyone will make it. I don't mean their car will break down. I mean they will not be alive. At my 10-yr reunion, 2 "didn't make it.” I'll use that euphemism. Then at my 20-yr reunion, 8 "didn't make it". I haven't had my 30-yr yet, but I can only imagine that trend continues. So, as we say at the NFL Draft, "You're on the clock". Your life is well underway. At the same time, I think it's important to heed to the advice of Basketball Coach John Wooden. Wooden, who coached UCLA to 10 NCAA Championships and has one himself as a player told his teams: "LIVE as though you'll die tomorrow... LEARN as though you'll live forever." That bears repeating. "LIVE as though you'll die tomorrow... LEARN as though you'll live forever." Wooden is famous for starting the first day of practice teaching the team... what? Any one know? HOW to tie their sneakers. Fundamentals... attention to detail... Tie your sneakers like you mean it!!! Wooden did not watch game film of other teams. He paid attention to HIS craft, the fundamentals of HIS team...And he filled the shelf with Championship trophies. John Wooden, by the way, lives in California and is 96 years old. So life is short, but you, too, might be in it for quite a long haul.

NUMBER FIVE:
ENTHUSIASM AND DESIRE
I knew a soccer coach who was once a member of the Hungarian National Team. Quite a player, quite a coach. I spent many days covering his college teams. They were always winners. I can still hear his voice bellowing in a Hungarian accent across that soccer field: ENTHUSIASM AND DESIRE!!!!!! If you're already spending the time at work or at play, ENTHUSIASTICALLY learn your craft. Find balance, certainly, but while you're on the job and in everything you do in life... give it everything you have. If you haven't done that yet, there's still plenty of time. Prepare yourself. You're already doing your part. You're here today, getting your degree from Ohio Northern University. IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A POLAR BEAR! Enthusiasm and Desire!

NUMBER SIX:
This is my favorite...
"Challenge The Orthodoxy" We all grow up having to listen to those in authority. And there is, ingrained in us, a predisposition to think that "THEY" must know what they're doing. If you've been paying attention to what's going on in this country, you already know, this is not true. Rather than illustrate with our foreign policy, let's talk football. In a study done by an economist at Berkeley, it was found that anytime it's 4th down and 4, or closer than 4 yards, you should go for it. DO NOT PUNT! Don Shula himself, the winningest coach in NFL history, a man who grew up here in northern Ohio, was once asked, "Is there any big innovation left in football?" Shula said, "Someday there will be a coach that doesn't punt." So economists, mathematicians, and Don Shula are all calling for it. Why doesn't someone do it? The answer is FEAR. Fear of standing out from the crowd. Fear of challenging the accepted norm. If this happens in football with everyone watching, how many things like this are happening in corporations, in schools, and in
government. Just because it's been done a certain way for eons doesn't mean it's the best way of getting it done. Challenge the orthodoxy.

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Ohio Northern University
Ada, OH
May 2007

Sent in by: Cristina
Posted on: 02.09.2008