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August 2016 Commencement Address 2016.08.26

August 26, 2016

 

To today’s graduates who will be moving onward from our beloved Yonsei University, I offer you sincere congratulations. I also extend my deepest gratitude and congratulations to the loving parents and families who supported your sons and daughters with guidance and sacrifice. In addition, I would like to thank our distinguished guests, including the honorable Chairman Suk Soo Kim, for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend this commencement and hearten today’s graduates. We are also indebted to the professors who have walked with our graduates to this day.

 

This is the second graduation ceremony I have presided over since my inauguration as President of Yonsei University. Of course, it is my aim to give words of wisdom to students starting off from their place at Yonsei, but it can be a challenge to find enlightening stories every year. Therefore, to solve this conundrum, I turn to what I have been advocating day in and day out, “Extelligence.” Contrasting with the idea of “intelligence”, Extelligence is the capability to combine pre-existing concepts to create new ideas. It is not about creating innovative ideas from thin air. Anyone can be Extelligent. Even this very commencement speech is brought to you by Extelligence.

 

I looked over commencement speeches delivered by famous figures at leading universities around the world. Obviously, the most popular messages were, “challenge yourself,” and, “don’t be afraid to fail.” These are words that encourage us to never give up or feel disappointed in our endeavors, while emphasizing that triumph only comes after many a trial and error.

 

Of course, not fearing failure is easier said than done. Every time we fail, we cannot return to the person who cheered us on and berate him or her about why he or she coaxed us into disaster. If only we could see straightforward statistics that tell us after how many failures we should let go, or at what age we should stop trying, or if we are granted the privilege to find success and for how long it would last.

 

Therefore, let me rephrase this saying. Rather than say, “do not be afraid of failing,” I want to tell you this: “Have the patience and wisdom to overcome failure.” Your attitude should not be fixed on not making mistakes, but rather on having the determination to not make the same mistakes again. One way is to not hide your shortcomings from your friends, but to make it a habit to openly talk or joke about them. By making a network of people with similar experiences, it is easier to identify and share the causes of failures, and in such truly be able to learn from past mistakes. In reality, successful people do not possess some kind of “secret to success.” Instead, they devote massive amounts of time into analyzing the causes of their own failures.

 

Beloved graduates,

My second piece of advice may sound slightly paradoxical: “Wake up!” By no means am I telling all of you fresh graduates aspiring for greatness to throw away your hopes and dreams. I am asking you to reflect on your hopes and dreams and assess whether they are truly your own, and not imposed on you by others. Your dream career is not for just anyone to walk into. Even if you do land that coveted job, it is very likely that it is not going to be exactly what you were expecting. You have to be conscious that reaching a specific job title, or becoming rich and famous, is not what it means to achieve a dream. It is more worthwhile to appreciate the process of finding meaning in your own life.

 

Third, do your best to reduce the disparity between the “true you” and “you in the eyes of others.”  It is bound to be that the “you” shown to others will vary greatly from the “you” kept locked inside, and that the person you think you are will vastly differ from the person others perceive you to be. We must put forth an effort to be aware of the person people perceive us to be as much as we strive to express our own natural selves. In other words, we should accept and take in the “you” portrayed to others, thus developing a more balanced and complete sense of self. This is an approach that people with excellent social skills have in common and an essential mindset for the network society. 

 

The advice I really want to convey to you is to live with a sense of curiosity. Creative students may pitch new questions, while the rest are engrossed in providing an answer to others’ questions. Curiosity leads us to ask questions, and extensive amounts of information are at our fingertips for the sole purpose of answering them. One study in England revealed that nowadays young people use their smart phones 221 times per day. Excluding the time they are sleeping, this would mean they pick up the phone every 4.3 minutes. Most people have a passive response to information forwarded along by mobile phones. Unconsciously, our own thoughts and judgements are replaced by other users’ opinions through websites and social media. The value of this flood of information depends on whether you are curious or not. I urge you to be curious and ask questions to come up with your own new knowledge among the sea of information. New perspectives and new pathways will always open for you when you look upon the world with fresh eyes filled with curiosity.

 

Today, you are all taking the first step in the direction of your own choice. I urge you to always consider what this first step means to your present and future life and being. At the crossroads ahead of you, amid the ups and downs of life, and in the glory of success or the bitterness of failure, never forget that Yonsei stands with you. Once a Yonseian, always a Yonseian. I sincerely hope you remember this with pride as you thrive in your life of new challenges.

 

Once again, congratulations you on your graduation. May the grace of God be with everyone here today in all of your future endeavors.

 

Now, boldly embark on your journeys into the greater world beyond. 

 

Thank you.