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Chuck Bryant's Speech from Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020 · Stuff You Should Know

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