Ladies and gentlemen a great graduation ceremony should have in it a great occasional address and
we are very lucky today to have a great speaker to give that occasional address today the address is
to be delivered by turia pitt turia is one of australia's most admired people and her story
has impacted millions around the world touria graduated here at the university of new south
wales with first class honors she's completed two iron man events she is a best-selling author she
mentors thousands through her school of champions she's raised over one million dollars for
enterplast and she was a finalist for australian of the year and a finalist for the telstra
business women's award ladies and gentlemen it's an enormous pleasure for me to introduce to you
touria pitt hello what an awesome day at an incredible university before i acknowledge some
of the very special people in the room i'd first like to acknowledge the traditional owners of
the land on which we gather today the bridgeable people of the euro nation and pay my respects to
their leaders past present and emerging i would also like to acknowledge the chancellar the dean
families and friends and of course a massive massive shout out to the graduating students
you did it this is your day and i don't care if it's done virtually
via telecommunication networks or hologram today you graduate so congratulate yourself
nine years ago i was where you are now i was about to graduate from this very university my career
path i had it all mapped out graduate mining engineer superintendent i probably would have done
a couple of international secondments and i had my site set on being the ceo of a global mining firm
that never happened two weeks after i graduated i entered an ultra marathon
i was trapped by grass fire during the race i received burns to 65 of my body
spent six months in hospital and i was told that i would never run again
so what did i do i adapted i pivoted i reinvented myself not as a motivational speaker because
us engineers are way more credible than that but as an athlete an adventurer and author
i've done iron man world championships i've written three best-selling books i've run
up mountains and down valleys and through rivers and gorges and being able to adapt
and pivot is now more crucial than ever this is the first virtual graduation ever held at unsw
you might be watching this sitting on your couch in your ugg boots or maybe you're cooking dinner
the world is changing and evolving and adapting and you get to be a part of it so it is exciting
it's thrilling the possibilities are endless but it's also a little bit terrifying uncertain what's
the economy going to do what will the long-term impact be of social distancing in isolation
will your job be secure three years from now i haven't experienced what you're going through
i didn't graduate during a global pandemic but i do know a little bit about going through the
hard times overcoming adversity and beating the odds and throughout this whole journey
i've been on from being faced with a wall of flame in the kimberleys through to my recovery
in hospital and everything else i've achieved since i've learned something something simple
change your focus your attention your energy it's limited it's finite and it's like a torch so
whatever you shine it on is what you'll see when you focus on all of the things that could go wrong
when you focus on what's missing in your life when you focus in on your flaws and in on your
fears when you listen to that little voice inside your head telling you that you're too young you're
not smart enough you don't have the experience that's all you'll get that's all you'll see
change your focus how ask yourself these questions what's one small step
i can take forward what could i be grateful for right now
how could i be of service these questions they change your outlook your mindset your frame of
mind they get you moving in a direction that is bigger and better and brighter than your fear
change your focus has there been a better time to do this than in 2020 it would be wonderful
if we could learn about resilience and grit and gumption by sitting in a uni lecture room
taking notes but alas the only way we learn resilience is by going through the hard times
the only way we get grittier is by testing ourselves and the only way we get more gumption is
by showing up when things get tough and what we're living through right now it will strengthen us
it will fortify us it could just be the making of all of us and you all of you are graduating today
from the best university in australia that's why the world needs you we need your smarts we
need your problem-solving abilities we need your dedication to finding the solutions and we need
your gifts whatever they are maybe you're a fast learner maybe you're patient kind
optimistic articulate tenacious whatever your gift is the world needs it now more than ever
so whenever you get stuck in your head wondering if you said the wrong wrong thing wondering if
you're going to stuff up wondering if you're going to embarrass yourself whenever you
start to feel scared or worried or uncertain about your future your career or your life
stop yourself notice where your attention is and now change your focus ask yourself
what's one small step i can take forward
what can i be grateful for right now how can i be of service congratulations guys
thank you on behalf of the entire university of new south wales that was absolutely marvelous
and i must say old as i may be totally inspiring thank you so much for coming here
thank you for doing it and congratulations on everything you've achieved on behalf
of everyone at the university i want you to know we're not only thankful for the speech
but we're so proud to have been part of your life and to have you as an emissary for our university