May 15, 2020 • 6 mins
In this episode of Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020, Chuck Bryant, co-host of the Stuff You Should Know podcast, reminds graduates to not let this season define them, reminding them the world believes in their ability to craft a better future for themselves.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Commencement Speeches for the class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, faculty, rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are because this is still
your day, your moment, and now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Chuck Bryant. Hello, Class of I am
(00:54):
Charles W. Chuck Bryant from the Stuff You Should Know Podcast.
Over the best twelve years, I've had the privilege to
do a show that has meant quite a bit to
a lot of high school and college students. We have
heard great things over that time from students who are
smart and curious, funny and opinionated, the real seekers in life,
and it's my honor to bring them in all of you.
(01:16):
This message here for your fake commencement Class of I'm sorry.
You worked really hard for twelve years and then maybe
four more years in college, and you were supposed to
finish out your senior year with prom, graduation, senior skip
Day and more. Than anything walking out of your school
(01:37):
knowing that it was for the very last time. But
you aren't getting that privilege that you earned, and that
really sucks. I'd like to sugarcoat it, but that's the
God's honest truth. Now, with that out of the way,
let me tell you why one day you're going to
look back on all of this time and actually smile,
because you will. You will forever be known as the
(02:00):
warantine class capital Q, capital C trademark Charles W. Bryant.
You will go down as the most cheated group of
seniors in high school in college history, and that's something
you should embrace because all of this will only make
you stronger, more resilient, and more prepared for the inevitable
future disappointments you will all suffer over and over again
(02:23):
in life. You might think I'm kidding, and I kind
of am, because see, I use humor to help deflect
my own pain, and we're all feeling that pain right now.
You See, I have a niece in the quarantine class,
and I have some close friends with kids in the
quarantine class. And I have an almost five year old
daughter who was part of the quarantine class of her preschool.
(02:46):
She will never set foot again inside this little hippie
dippie school where she made her very first friends, and
she will likely not see many of them ever again.
I have seen, through my daughter and my niece and
my friends firsthand the pain and disappointment of what this
dumb situation has caused. But back to the humor part, right,
because I am kidding in a way that life is
(03:08):
a series of disappointments and you will be better prepared
because of this. But life really is a series of
disappointments and also a series of sweet victories and wonderful
friendships and bitter betrayals. It's true love and utter heartbreak.
It's exciting and boring as hell. It's exhilarating and mundane.
Your future will be filled with all that's amazing and terrible.
(03:32):
The whole point of life is to experience the full
range of emotions and experiences. You'd be short changed if
everything was awesome, because sadness and pain are valuable. Some
of the best art and history came from sadness and pain.
Most of it. Actually. You know, those songs about somebody
who's really happy all the time, There are very few,
(03:52):
and they suck. So what I'm getting at is that
you have an opportunity to use this experience and use
this time, one unlike any other in human history, to
your best advantage. The world we live in has, by
and large simply stopped for a moment. Not your neighborhood,
or your city or state, or even your country, the
(04:15):
entire world. We're all at home. We're all granted so
much time with our families and loved ones, and more importantly,
with ourselves. Will you miss graduation? Yes? Does that suck again? Yes?
But you know what, I honestly barely remember anything about
my graduation, and I didn't even drink back then. But
(04:38):
I know I'll remember these days and weeks and these
months more clearly than any other time in my life.
Now is the time to think about what you're going
to do to make the world a better one. We
shouldn't go back to normal, because normal wasn't the best
for the world. We can do better. We can slow down,
we can be kinder to the earth and to each other.
(05:00):
We can share things and use less, we can forge
a brighter path. But you see, there's a catch. Quarantine
class trademark. It's got to come from you, guys. We
can't do it. We've showed that we can't do it.
Old people are the worst at making real change. People
my age aren't so great at it either. But you
(05:22):
know what, you guys are the best. Your spirit, your ingenuity,
your passion. This is what we need if we're going
to use this time to reboot humanity, because we need to.
It's a big job, but we have a little head
start here, and we have all of you behind us
pushing this huge barge in the right direction, just a
(05:43):
few short inches at a time, so that it all
ends up in a very different place years from now.
So in closing, yes, the country is all super sad
for the quarantine class. You have all been cheated and
it really does suck. But it won't define you. I've
heard from enough of you over the years to know
(06:04):
that that's true. One day you'll look back on this
time and it will one be up to you what
that memory looks like. I believe in you, and the
world believes in you. Congratulations on all you've achieved and
all that you will achieve. Now go out there and
crutch it. You can find a collection of incredible commencement
(06:36):
addresses from all your favorite speakers at the Commitment podcast
on I Heart Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Commencement Speeches for the class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, faculty, rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are because this is still
your day, your moment, and now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Chuck Bryant. Hello, Class of I am
(00:54):
Charles W. Chuck Bryant from the Stuff You Should Know Podcast.
Over the best twelve years, I've had the privilege to
do a show that has meant quite a bit to
a lot of high school and college students. We have
heard great things over that time from students who are
smart and curious, funny and opinionated, the real seekers in life,
and it's my honor to bring them in all of you.
(01:16):
This message here for your fake commencement Class of I'm sorry.
You worked really hard for twelve years and then maybe
four more years in college, and you were supposed to
finish out your senior year with prom, graduation, senior skip
Day and more. Than anything walking out of your school
(01:37):
knowing that it was for the very last time. But
you aren't getting that privilege that you earned, and that
really sucks. I'd like to sugarcoat it, but that's the
God's honest truth. Now, with that out of the way,
let me tell you why one day you're going to
look back on all of this time and actually smile,
because you will. You will forever be known as the
(02:00):
warantine class capital Q, capital C trademark Charles W. Bryant.
You will go down as the most cheated group of
seniors in high school in college history, and that's something
you should embrace because all of this will only make
you stronger, more resilient, and more prepared for the inevitable
future disappointments you will all suffer over and over again
(02:23):
in life. You might think I'm kidding, and I kind
of am, because see, I use humor to help deflect
my own pain, and we're all feeling that pain right now.
You See, I have a niece in the quarantine class,
and I have some close friends with kids in the
quarantine class. And I have an almost five year old
daughter who was part of the quarantine class of her preschool.
(02:46):
She will never set foot again inside this little hippie
dippie school where she made her very first friends, and
she will likely not see many of them ever again.
I have seen, through my daughter and my niece and
my friends firsthand the pain and disappointment of what this
dumb situation has caused. But back to the humor part, right,
because I am kidding in a way that life is
(03:08):
a series of disappointments and you will be better prepared
because of this. But life really is a series of
disappointments and also a series of sweet victories and wonderful
friendships and bitter betrayals. It's true love and utter heartbreak.
It's exciting and boring as hell. It's exhilarating and mundane.
Your future will be filled with all that's amazing and terrible.
(03:32):
The whole point of life is to experience the full
range of emotions and experiences. You'd be short changed if
everything was awesome, because sadness and pain are valuable. Some
of the best art and history came from sadness and pain.
Most of it. Actually. You know, those songs about somebody
who's really happy all the time, There are very few,
(03:52):
and they suck. So what I'm getting at is that
you have an opportunity to use this experience and use
this time, one unlike any other in human history, to
your best advantage. The world we live in has, by
and large simply stopped for a moment. Not your neighborhood,
or your city or state, or even your country, the
(04:15):
entire world. We're all at home. We're all granted so
much time with our families and loved ones, and more importantly,
with ourselves. Will you miss graduation? Yes? Does that suck again? Yes?
But you know what, I honestly barely remember anything about
my graduation, and I didn't even drink back then. But
(04:38):
I know I'll remember these days and weeks and these
months more clearly than any other time in my life.
Now is the time to think about what you're going
to do to make the world a better one. We
shouldn't go back to normal, because normal wasn't the best
for the world. We can do better. We can slow down,
we can be kinder to the earth and to each other.
(05:00):
We can share things and use less, we can forge
a brighter path. But you see, there's a catch. Quarantine
class trademark. It's got to come from you, guys. We
can't do it. We've showed that we can't do it.
Old people are the worst at making real change. People
my age aren't so great at it either. But you
(05:22):
know what, you guys are the best. Your spirit, your ingenuity,
your passion. This is what we need if we're going
to use this time to reboot humanity, because we need to.
It's a big job, but we have a little head
start here, and we have all of you behind us
pushing this huge barge in the right direction, just a
(05:43):
few short inches at a time, so that it all
ends up in a very different place years from now.
So in closing, yes, the country is all super sad
for the quarantine class. You have all been cheated and
it really does suck. But it won't define you. I've
heard from enough of you over the years to know
(06:04):
that that's true. One day you'll look back on this
time and it will one be up to you what
that memory looks like. I believe in you, and the
world believes in you. Congratulations on all you've achieved and
all that you will achieve. Now go out there and
crutch it. You can find a collection of incredible commencement
(06:36):
addresses from all your favorite speakers at the Commitment podcast
on I Heart Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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