Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered the commencement address at the Georgia Institute of Technology, one of leading technological research universities in the world. Her remarks are included below.
Remarks As Prepared For Delivery Thank you, President Peterson. I am thrilled to be here today at Georgia Tech – home to some of the most innovative minds in the world. I understand that one of our graduates today has set a very high bar for speeches. Nick Selby, I may not have theme music, but you taught me that we’re at Georgia Tech! I don’t need theme music to give you a badass commencement speech.
Today, you are receiving a diploma from one of America’s most prestigious universities, which is the best Mother’s Day gift your mom could imagine. I can relate to the pride your parents are feeling today. In a few weeks, I am actually going to be sitting in the audience when my daughter Rose graduates from college. Let’s take a moment to give your parents, your families, and the friends here a big round of applause.
When my son graduated a few years ago, no one told him that the reason this event is called “commencement” is because it marked the beginning of the biggest transition of his life. From the first day of preschool, you educational institutions have provided you with a safe place to grow and learn, a structure for your day-to-day life, and a guide to oversee your development. That security ends today when President Peterson hands you your well-earned diploma.
While this transition can be both exciting and scary, think of your twenties as the time to have experiences that will shape the rest of your life and lay down the foundation for your future self. Some of you are about to undertake your first professional job hunt. Others will look for your first apartment, and possibly move to another city. Many of you will be faced with paying your own cell phone bills or starting to repay your student loans.
Your lives are about to change dramatically, whether you want them to or not. That is a fact. The good news is you control your reaction to the seismic shifts in your life. Do you embrace the possibility? Or do you shrink from the challenge? It is up to you.
I always tell my children that chance favors the prepared mind. Each of you here today is about to enter your accumulation phase. This is the time to develop your prepared mind – to both gain expertise in your field and learn broader skills that will inform your entire adulthood. By developing new expertise and skills, you set yourself up to take advantage of opportunities that can and will present themselves over the course of your career and your lifetime. You are, in effect, laying a foundation for your future.
Here is another fact: the position you take when you are 22 is not the job you are going to have for the rest of your life. In fact, the average American changes jobs roughly every four-and-a-half years. This means that you might have three different employers by the time you are 30. Or you might even become a self-employed entrepreneur. The key is to gather new skills with every day of work and to push yourself further with every new experience. Even if your first job out of college is not exactly your dream job, it is still an opportunity to grow.
So if you are an engineer, learn how to shoot and edit digital videos, giving you the ability to market your future innovations. If you are in marketing, talk to a programmer in your office about how to code, so you can learn how to build the products you are selling. If you are a programmer, grab lunch with someone from finance who can teach you how to put together a budget or read a financial statement.
In between acquiring skills, figure out how to collaborate with people from different generations, different backgrounds, and different walks of life. No matter what you want do with your life, learn how to write well and communicate clearly. Brick by brick, lay the foundation for your future.
For this phase of your life, your career will likely be your primary focus. But it should not be your only focus. This brings me to my next thought: while you are working on what you want to do as a professional, discover who you want to be as a person. Widen your lens. Open your aperture. Be curious. Whether you are an engineer, a budding entrepreneur, or a communications specialist, many of you know your focus for now. When you widen your lens and get out of your comfort zone, you will discover interests that will help you learn more about your values, your talents, and your passions.
This is your exploration phase. If you want to learn a new hobby or skill, however crazy it is, do it in your twenties when you have the time and flexibility. Learn a new language or how to play an instrument. Become a gourmet cook. Learn to fly. Write. And definitely travel and volunteer a lot. In your community. In other communities. Across the globe. Widen your lens and explore all your options.
It was about your age that I discovered running and what started as a hobby has evolved into a life-long passion. Today I am a triathlete – not a very good one, but I am out there on the starting line every summer. My exploration phase even led to me to my husband Bryan, whom I got to know while training for a race.
Like so many of the parents here today, Bryan and I have spent a lot of time lately talking to our daughter about her upcoming transition into the “real world.” Rose wants to be a teacher, and as a senior, is enrolled in a masters’ program. She faced a choice about whether to work for a school in Denver, where she has always wanted to live, or a school outside Oakland, California, where she never imagined herself.
Rose loves the mountains, but the principal in Oakland took a proactive interest in bringing her on board. The principal expressed a commitment from the get-go to help Rose both develop as a professional and to help her make an impact on the lives of underserved high schoolers in the district. So, Rose asked us, “What do I do?” The answer was clear: you go with the mentor.
This brings me to another point: look for the leader who is willing to invest in you. Seek out a mentor who can unbound you from the limits of your own background and imagination and someone who can open your eyes to your full potential. A good mentor will see the qualities in you that others cannot see, including yourself. A good mentor will help you build your network and discover your path. A good mentor will help you lay the foundation for your future.
Now, I want to be honest with you about that future: I can pretty much guarantee that your life will not go as planned. Your dream job might turn out to be a bad fit, or the company might go under after a couple years. Your perfect apartment might come with a terrible roommate who blasts music until 3AM every night. You might accidentally send an embarrassing email to your boss or someone you are dating. You might find yourself facing a serious health crisis, one that forces you to rethink your entire plan for your future. But as long as you have built a strong foundation, I promise: you are going to be okay. I know this first hand.
If you develop skills and expertise, widen your lens, and find a good mentor, you can roll with any challenge that comes your way. Chance favors the prepared mind. The foundation you lay will enable you to not only summon the resilience to get back up even if you are embarrassed or afraid or scared to fail. It will help you find the grit you did not know you had – the consistency you need to succeed, the perseverance to never stop improving, the firmness of character to keep working towards your goals no matter what happens.
We live in a time of amazing technological, demographic, economic, and societal change. Armed with grit and resilience, there is more opportunity out there for you as graduates of Georgia Tech than you can possibly imagine. And you will build a reputation that will carry you through the rest of your life.
Your next challenge in life is to take every opportunity to build on the foundation created here and continue learning, growing and experiencing. But that is a challenge for another day, because tonight is for celebrating. And as you celebrate, I hope you toast your parents, your family, your friends, and your support system. Without them, you would never have become a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech.
Congratulations to the Georgia Tech Class of 2016. I wish you the very best of luck as you go out and change the world. Go Yellow Jackets!
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
