Steve Jobs Commencement Address

Last June 12, 2005, Apple founder Steve Jobs’ gave his commencement address in front of the graduates of Stanford University. Jobs was a college dropout himself, He opened his speech with this phrase, “Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.” I never knew that a college dropout would become the most influenced business leader in the world today and also one of the most respected names in the computer industry.
Steve began his speech by talking about the three stories which are the factors that are most important to his remarkable success over the past three decades. The first story was about what he called “connecting the dots”. His experiences in life at that time was seemingly little. However, somewhere down the road, the significance of even the tiniest events would reveal themselves to Jobs. One example is the calligraphy course where Jobs was enrolled. He was an official dropped out of the school so that is why he is free to take any courses he wanted. He learned everything about serif and san serif typefaces to the varying amount of space between different letter combinations. “None of this had even a hope of any practical applications in my life,” Jobs said. “But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typology.”
Jobs said that if he had never dropped in on that calligraphy class, the Mac as the world knows it today would never have multiple typefaces and proportional fonts that it does. And that is what Jobs means by connecting the dots, it is something which can only be done when looking backwards. “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future,” he says. “You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the differences in my life.”
What I have learned from his first story is to try appreciating all things even up to the smallest stuffs in your life because someday you would not know that smallest stuff will be a tool in accomplishing your goal. The next thing I have learned is to trust into something especially to God. Trust is a great key which can help you all the way in your journey to life. Another that I have also realized is that by having trust you can also build up confidence.
The second story in Steve Jobs’ commencement speech was that of “love and loss.” He was so fortunate that he have discovered his passion early in his life. Steve Jobs was smashed when he was fired from the very company that he had helped found. However, it was the very passion of his own that helped him sustain and put his career on the rebound. And then he started a company named NeXT, and another company named Pixar which created the world’s first computer animated feature film, Apple bought out NeXT and brought Jobs back on board. “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick,” Steve Jobs said. “I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.”
I have learned a lot on Steve Jobs’ second story. I must really find what I really love because without it I would probably have a hard time on spending the precious days in my life. Now that I am still searching for the thing that I love, I also learned that I must not settle and I really have to find it! And lastly, the best thing that I learned in his second story is to not give up even if the world is against you. I learned that I must stand up and face all the trials in my life.
The last story Steve Jobs told was one about death. He came close to the edge after being diagnosed with cancer in 2004, and was even told that he would have no longer than three to six months to live. After doctors discovered it was in fact a rare and curable form of pancreatic cancer, Jobs recovered, but not before learning an important lesson. “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” he told the students. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
His last story I think is the climax of his life. It serves as a turning point. And with his story I have learned a lot from what he had said to the students of Stanford University and that is not to waste my time living with someone else’s life simply because our time is limited. I should not let the noise of others’ opinion drown out my own inner voice. And the most important lesson that I have learned from Steve Jobs’ speech is to have the courage to follow my heart and my intuition. “They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” Steve Jobs said.
The Steve Jobs’ Commencement address ended with four simple but powerful words of advice from the billionaire entrepreneur and that is to “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” To stay hungry which means to starve or to ask for more even if you already have what you want. And as a technopreneur we should stay hungry because if not we would probably become lazy and contented from what we have. And to stay hungry which means to reach your goals and be foolish enough to take risks for in that way you will only reach and achieve your goals in life. Steve Jobs’ commencement address is really motivating and it indeed inspires me a lot. And as a student I have set my first goal and that is to finish my college.