Steve Jobs Commencement Speech

Steve Jobs’ commencement speech to Stanford in 2005 sent a shiver up my spine the moment I finished reading the full text. It’s not a plain speech that you would commonly hear in college graduations. It’s nothing like the others who never forget about speaking of their achievements and how it affected their lives. Jobs, rather, talked about much of what background he has and nothing but the truth behind everything when he started his invention, which, in a blink of an eye, changed the world.

I admire his courage when he dropped out of college when he said he couldn’t see the value in it and that he had no idea how it would help him figure out what will he do in his life. I also support his decision of dropping out of classes that failed catching his interest and drop in to the ones who conquers his interest and attention. However, nowadays, I do believe that this kind of strategy in finding out your passion would not really work anymore. Most of college students just give up half way not because they are in search for what they really like but because they are tired and thinks they can’t go on anymore.

We can no longer deny that college diploma is essential today if we want to get hired by big companies or if we want to get a more decent job. For that, as for college students, they shouldn’t give up just yet and continue to pursue. When I read about how his calligraphy classes have been much of use in his career, something went back to me. Often times, when I feel my subjects are eating me alive, I ask myself. “When will ever this benefit me in life?” Steve Jobs gave me the answer. It may not be today, tomorrow, or next month. But someday, sometime, somewhere, and somehow, what you learn inside the four corners of classroom will be much of use to you. No rush. You just have to wait and see.

Another lesson in life that I always hear and read had finally struck into my mind, soul, and heart – losing something is not the end of it for you may gain something worth triple or more of what you loss. With Jobs’ story, I told myself that I shouldn’t stop pursuing my dreams just because I am afraid of losing. Losing and standing up to start all over again is better than to miss good opportunities and later on regret that I have did nothing sensible in my entire life. There’s sunshine after the rain. A loss may turn out into gain. So what if we fall seven times? We can stand up eight. We just need to keep on believing, view the losses on positive side and see what we gained. Keep the faith and everything would work out okay. Loving something means never giving it up. Keep loving it even if others comment about you being foolish about it. Just keep on going. If you haven’t found it yet, stand up and walk, don’t settle until the search is over.

“Live each day as if it there would be no tomorrow!” I always hear this quote. I frequently read this at text messages I am receiving every day. Then, I wonder. Why should I live it as if it was the last if I know there would be tomorrow anyway? That’s when another question popped up. Am I sure that I would be still alive the next day? Of course not. And so, I dig deeper until I came up with a mind set. I finally took another quote into my heart – that time is gold. People shouldn’t waste their time doing random things that really don’t give the happiness they are craving for. Cherish the days until you have it and live it to the fullest. We don’t have unlimited time to waste since the moment we’re born, we already start dying. Death is one constant thing in the world, and we can’t run away from it. So as long as it hasn’t come yet, live the remaining times not by what others want you to but by how you think you’ll enjoy it. Jobs’ commencement address opens my heart for lessons that made difference on how I view things today. It didn’t just inspire and motivated me but also enlightened me and gave me more strength enveloped with hope as my strong foundation as I go along with my life.