[Music]
Welcome to Boston University's Commencement exercises.
We gather here to celebrate the accomplishments
of the young men and women who are the 2012 graduates of Boston University.
[Cheers]
Great celebrations are often tinged with contradictory,
underlying emotions.
We have been stunned by the loss of four young lives, one to violence in our city, three
to a dreadful automobile accident in New Zealand.
All had gone into the world to learn, explore and realize dreams and hopes.
I ask that all you rise to join me in a moment
of silence to honor the four dead students who lost their lives this spring.
Thank you.
I now present Leila Belmahi.
She will speak on behalf of the Class of 2012.
When we were freshmen, we thought the seniors had all the answers.
I'm here to tell you the senior secret.
And it is.
That there is no secret.
Now I'm sorry if that disappointed you.
But I wanted to show you that in that phrase
lies something deeper.
The fact that there is no secret, means that the illusion that someone has all the answers
is false.
The truth is, no one has all the answers.
And knowing that, we can start to clean up this world together.
Because it gives us the permission to trust ourselves,
take chances, and do something different.
[Cheers]
I now call upon Eric Schmidt to deliver the 139th Commencement address of Boston University.
Thank you.
No graduating class gets to choose the world
they graduate into.
Just as you can't choose your siblings and your parents.
What is different, though, is the chance that
each generation has to make history.
And on that score, your generation's opportunities are greater than any generation's in modern history.
In the past, it's always been the older generations standing up on high, trying to teach the next
generations the ways of the world.
You know how it goes.
Well graduates, I think it's different today.
You are teaching us.
This generation.
Your generation is the first fully-connected generation the world has ever known.
What's the first thing that you guys do when
you wake up?
Right?
Check your phone, your laptop, read some email, comb through your social networks.
I'm awake.
Here I am.
Some of you are probably texting right now,
or tweeting the speech, changing your status.
[Laughs]
People bemoan this generation that's growing up, living life in front of screens, always
connected to something or someone.
These people are wrong.
Connectivity will revolutionize every aspect of society: politically, socially, economically.
To connect the world is to free the world.
Technology doesn't work on its own.
It's a tool.
You are the ones who will harness that power.
And that requires innovation and entrepreneurship.
Don't just be a shepherd, following someone
else's vision and ideas.
New models, new forms, new thinking, that's what we need from you.
But you cannot let technology rule you.
Take your eyes off that screen, and look into
the eyes of that person you love.
Don't push a button saying, "I like something." Actually tell them.
For those who say that you're thinking too big,
be smart enough not to listen.
For those who say that the odds are too small, be dumb enough to give it a shot.
You will give our future a heartbeat.
And that beat will beat stronger because of
you, and the things that you care about,
and your values, and the things you're going to do.
I want to thank you all for listening to me.
And my sincere congratulations to every single
one of you, your families.
It's a great day.
Thank you so much.
[Cheers]
[Singing]
"Our alma matter ever more, hail BU."