I ’ve talked a lot about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn; I ’ve talked about your parents ’ responsibility for making sure your staying on track and you get your homework done and don ’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox; I’ve talked a lot about your government ’s responsibility for setting high standards and supporting teachers and principals and turning around schools that aren ’t working, where students aren ’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world, and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you pay attention to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That’s what I want to focus on today, the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That ’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a great writer, maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper, but you might not know it until you write that English paper assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor,
maybe even good enough to come up with the next Iphone or the new medicine or vaccine...but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know it until you join student government or the debate team. And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it. And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you ’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You ’ll need the knowledge and problem- solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and Aids, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You ’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You ’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new
jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect, so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that, if you quit on school, you ’re not just quitting on yourself, you ’re quitting on our country.
There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
There is no excuse for not trying.
Where you’re right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
Earn good grades. Never fall behind. Refuse to give up.
He ’s headed to college this fall.
Foster home/ parent.
In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you.
They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.
Chances are you’re not going to be any of those things. The truth is being successful is hard.
You won’t click with every teacher.
Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had
the most failures.
Reject.
You can’t let your failure define you, you have to let your failures teach you.
Hit the note when singing a song.
The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Meet your goal.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It ’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
What ’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make?
I ’m working hard to get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part, too. To get serious.
I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don ’t let us down. Don ’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don’t let yourself down. Make us all proud.
I ’ve talked a lot about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn; I ’ve talked about your parents ’ responsibility for making sure your staying on track and you get your homework done and don ’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox; I’ve talked a lot about your government ’s responsibility for setting high standards and supporting teachers and principals and turning around schools that aren ’t working, where students aren ’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world, and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you pay attention to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That’s what I want to focus on today, the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That ’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a great writer, maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper, but you might not know it until you write that English paper assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor,
maybe even good enough to come up with the next Iphone or the new medicine or vaccine...but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know it until you join student government or the debate team. And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it. And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you ’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You ’ll need the knowledge and problem- solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and Aids, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You ’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You ’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new
jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect, so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that, if you quit on school, you ’re not just quitting on yourself, you ’re quitting on our country.
There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
There is no excuse for not trying.
Where you’re right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
Earn good grades. Never fall behind. Refuse to give up.
He ’s headed to college this fall.
Foster home/ parent.
In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you.
They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it.
Chances are you’re not going to be any of those things. The truth is being successful is hard.
You won’t click with every teacher.
Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had
the most failures.
Reject.
You can’t let your failure define you, you have to let your failures teach you.
Hit the note when singing a song.
The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Meet your goal.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It ’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
What ’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make?
I ’m working hard to get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part, too. To get serious.
I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don ’t let us down. Don ’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don’t let yourself down. Make us all proud.