Your Graduation Speeches in 50 Words

Commencement season is coming to a close. Tears have been shed, inspiration delivered. As politicians, movie stars and other notable figures sent students off with rousing speeches on everything from civic education to #MeToo (take our quiz), we asked readers to share their own wisdom, as if they too had been invited to give a commencement address. The catch: It had to be under 50 words. Here are some of our favorites, edited lightly for clarity and accompanied by notes about what inspired each speech.

“Remember, everyone will tell you it can’t be done until you do it. And when you do it, they’ll say it was luck. Unless you do it again, and they’ll say it was your genes. But if you do it again, you show your spirit is stronger than their words.”

I’ve heard from very emphatic naysayers in college. They tell me I cannot reach my goals, but I refuse to have my spirit broken. I just want to hear someone say that they understand my pain and have become successful in spite of it.

— Arlen Suarez, 21, Houston

“Never type anything, anywhere, that you’d be embarrassed if your mother read it. It will serve you well.”

I grew up! I’m still working on this one, but getting better.

— Amy Leader, 42, Wayne, Pa.

“Someone’s going to have a great life. It might as well be you. Believe it, embrace it, and then remember to listen, learn and give back.”

It occurred to me that there are people in life who have great lives and that by believing, it can become possible for anyone. And it did.

— Vige Barrie, 65, Clinton, N.Y.

“Stay limber and do yoga, both mental and physical. Eat vegetables and nourish your mind. Ask that person out. Listen to an ‘enemy.’ Use turn signals. Take care of each other.”

This is my 24th year teaching high school English. This year we suffered our largest wildfire in state history and then fatal mudslides.

— Doug Carmean, 48, Santa Barbara, Calif.

“Read books. Recognize complexity. Remember that history matters. Look both ways when you cross the street. Be brave.”

I lived to be 71.

— Eileen Eagan, 71, Centreville, Va.

“Someone else’s success does not define your own. Rather than compete with others in your class, share and support one another. Send job posts, check in with your peers. Community is about building one another up and sharing the wealth. Your turn will come.”

My mom is an incredibly selfless and supportive person. She consistently taught me to refrain from envying others and use that energy to support those I care to see flourish, just as I hope to one day. In the words of ‘Hamilton,’ just wait for it.

— Jessica Villagomez, 22, Chicago

“Eat a good breakfast, then go and dismantle the patriarchy.”

A good breakfast could transform our sleepy slouches to postures taut with determination. With a full stomach and tape-recorder in hand, we were ready to fight.

— Maeve Benz, 19, Squamish, British Columbia

“Regardless of the walls you bump against during your roller-coaster ride, there will be moments in your life which bring you to tracks of clarity, where what you really want from life clicks.”

As a teenager raised by an overbearing single mother who couldn’t afford to support me through high school, university, etc. I was suicidal and apathetic...until I managed to study abroad in Rome on a shoestring, then travel and work throughout the world...and all by choice.

— Celine Keshishian, 47, Brooklyn, N.Y.

“For some, graduation feels like an end. For some, a beginning. We understand our life in milestones. Time is linear, but your life doesn’t have to be. Don’t feel like you need to accomplish your goals by 30. Life is more flexible than we give it credit for.”

I want to get my master’s in something that may not be harmonious with my current job. I feel so much pressure to make a decision. But I have as much time as I want, even if society doesn’t frame it that way.

— Cassandra Sardo, 23, Caldwell, N.J.

“Find your mantra — a saying, a cliché, a made-up word, a slice of song, a piece of a poem, your grandma’s beloved Yiddish phrase, your grandpa’s treasured hymn — find your own powerful words that when strung together, provide safety, happiness, calm, comfort, stability. Because life is hard.”

I have been lucky enough to have family and friends bestow upon me many a mantra in stressful and overwhelming situations and I have learned how powerful words can be.

– Alex Novak, 26, Denver

“Today, you’re impatient and know a lot. You feel too much of some things (fat, emotional, needy), too little of others. One day you’ll think of today and wonder why you wasted time feeling ‘less than’ anything. Remember: You’re sufficient, worthy and beautiful — just you, just as you are.”

It took middle age to show me that beauty has many definitions and only a few are physical, that there are all different kinds of smart, that you don’t have to fit neatly into a mold to be cool or have a full and amazing life.

— Rosemary Peters-Hill, 48, Baton Rouge, La.

“RELAX. Whatever ‘it’ is — don’t worry about it, don’t stress over it, don’t lose sleep over it — ‘it’ is not worth the wrinkles! Everything is going to be just fine.”

I have spent many years sweating the small stuff, and it just isn’t worth it!

— Summerlyn Thompson, 38, Charlottesville, Va.

“Everyone does not have the same heart as you. It may seem obvious, but it doesn’t click until you see a courteous action as common sense, but the other person doesn’t. It can become difficult to reach common ground, but you have to reach it.”

I lost people in my life because of this notion.

— Afsha Kasam, 21, N.Y.

“Graduates are exhorted to think big, have noble aspirations. Some may achieve greatly. Let’s instead accomplish what is small and meaningful: maintaining dedicated relationships, helping others, becoming skilled at what we love. There is contentment in accepting our limits and striving to fulfill them.”

I read ‘Small Is Beautiful’ and tried to live my life by that.

— Rita Sussman, 76, Chicago

“We are all on our own timeline.”

I graduated and have been feeling lost after being rejected from graduate school. A professor of mine said these words to me, and it reminded me that despite the pressure so many of us feel to have concrete plans as soon as we graduate, that’s not always how life works. There’s no singular path; as long as you’re moving forward, you’re doing just fine.

— Sarita Hira, 21, Vancouver

“If you’re lucky, college taught you how to think. And if you’re lucky, your career will nurture your intellectual curiosity. But the first time you feel your intellectual capabilities stifled in your workplace, notice it. Remember it. And do your best not to stifle the one that comes after you.”

— Lindsey Garland, 25, Atlanta