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February 2016 Commencement Address 2016.03.08

February 29, 2016

 

I would like to send my congratulations to the graduating class receiving their honorable Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral degrees today before leaving the beloved Yonsei campus. I would also like to extend my congratulations to the parents and family members of the graduating students here today who have sent their sons and daughters to Yonsei University and supported them with sacrifice and much devotion. Above all, you have come this far thanks to the teaching of your great professors. Please give them a round of applause.

 

Some of the graduates sitting here today may be regretting, wishing today was your entrance ceremony instead of commencement. Your life ahead of you might be the same way. As you reminisce about your first day of university, you might find yourself looking back at your mistakes and choices made, earnestly missing this moment of graduation. From now on, I urge you to spend your time preciously to avoid feeling repeated disappointment towards opportunities that are given to you. There are no more required classes for the life you will be facing. Everything comes down to choices. Moreover, I would like to remind you that your future depends upon the choices you make each and every moment. 

 

I did some research in preparing for this speech and looked up commencement speeches from other leading universities abroad. The message that appears most frequently was to “try”. Leaving behind the comforts of campus life to setting sail at sea, one should seek to try and ride the waves. I agree that this is the message you need at this moment.

 

Furthermore, I would like to emphasize that each one of you graduates should live to find your own meaning of life. Only the ones who find the meaning in their life can live in happiness. We are unhappy in our lives because we do not know what kind of meaning we should apply to our lives. Also, we have not yet learned the wisdom of drawing meanings from our life experiences. Studies have revealed that more than 90 percent of office workers are not interested in their jobs and view career identity and personal identity as separate entities. This means that most people work against their will, just to sustain and settle for a minimal standard of living. Perhaps that attributes to the record-level flourishing of the leisure industry recently. However, it is difficult to find happiness just through leisure activities and holidays.

 

Everyone strives for success, yet success does not complete one’s life. Harvard alumnus and American TV show host Conan O’Brien described success as a white tuxedo in his Harvard commencement congratulatory speech. When you put it on, you feel happy and look terrific for a moment. But this does not last long. You begin to feel afraid of getting your clothes dirty. It illustrates that the joy of success does not last forever. I believe that the meaning of life does not depend on success. If you can challenge yourself and share your talent with others—with respectable colleagues and those who respect you—you will find meaning in life.

 

Dear graduates,

I urge you to become people of human networks in your career. In Chinese characters, the symbols for “person” and “between” come together to create the character for “human”. This embraces the profound meaning of Eastern philosophy that the intrinsic character behind what makes one human lies within human networks: “between people”. What kind of network are you planning to cultivate? Appreciation for family and expressing that appreciation are the starting pillars of children’s concepts of relationships. As we grow older, you consider the friends you have made during your school life, and, taking a step further, the new networks you will develop in the future. I recommend you to meet as many different kinds of people as possible. Invest yourself to develop relationships with a variety of people even if they seemingly do not share much in common with you.

 

Interaction with different kinds of people is the source of new ideas and inspiration. With people similar to you, it is comfortable to share common knowledge, but easy to slip into a cycle of repeatedly talking about same topic every day. In the case of a person in a completely different field, you will likely talk about new subjects each time you meet. Even in the biological world, without genetic mutation, asexually reproducing plants thrive and flourish in the same location with the same environment. However, they do not spread to different areas and have difficulty adapting to new surroundings. Sexually reproducing plants—ones that mix and match genes to create new offspring—produce fruit that are then spread and grow away from their origins, in different environments. Reproduction is the mating of difference, and the occasional mutation resulting from these combinations is the foundation of creativity. I hope you can apply this biological metaphor to your network.

 

Yonsei Eagles! Soar up to the sky, embracing the spirit of challenge advocated by Steve Jobs, who endured repeated failures yet always strived for new challenges; or the Yonsei alumnus and Resistance poet, Dong-joo Yoon, who boldly lived his life with dignity and without regret. Please always remember that Yonsei will always stand here to support and cheer for you. You are proud alumni of Yonsei. From here on, do not forget the spirit of the Yonsei, -- the truth will set you free -- and I know that you will become Yonseians dedicated to your country, society, and the world.

 

Thank you.