That child deserves a world where everyone can get a quality educa-tion. More than 70 million kids are not enrolled in primary school today, and 60percent of them are girls. You can help close this gap-you can help close this gap by joining Teach for America here at home or the Peace Corps abroad, by providing lunches for rural girls’schools, by working to end child labor, forced marriage, and human trafficking, and by creating educational systems that reach all of our children.
That child deserves a world in which we find new cures for old plagues. You can be the generation to develop new vaccines for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, to use nanotechnology to create smart therapies that kill cancer cells and leave their healthy neighbors untouched, to provide needle-free immunizations to stop pandemics in their tracks.
That child also deserves a world whose climate isn‘t collapsing, whose air isn’t choked by soot-and whose waters aren‘t polluted with spewing oil. Imagine deploying clean-energy technologies to poor countries to power development without fossil fuels-much as China and Africa largely skipped landlines and leapfrogged to cell phones. You can be the generation that makes a green economy reality-that turns the fight against climate change into a boon for the developing world, not just a burden. You can be the generation that actually reverses global warming.
That child, and every child, deserves a world of greater opportunity, democracy, and hope. And that is the world you can help forge.
Sometimes we innovate in great strides; sometimes we progress by slow and steady advances. But progress we must.
The fight against poverty is a challenge worthy of your generation that grew up in this interlinked age. The goal of a world free of famine and mass misery may seem distant-but once, so were the moon and the microchip. The aim is ambitious. But so are you.
As you go about changing the world, continuously challenge yourselves. Get out of your comfort zone. Go travel the world we share. Learn morelanguages. Get grit in your eyes, and sand in your hair, and service in your soul. Graduating from Stanford is great, but it’s just the beginning.
So, don‘t settle on a single path too soon. The last time I really was sure I knew what I wanted to do with my life was my senior year at Stanford. I was sure I wanted to be a United States Senator. I left for Oxford, certain I would go on to law school. To round myself out, I decided to study international affairs. After Oxford, I decided to skip law school but decided to sample the business world at McKinsey and Company, and I did so precisely because I was never any good at math and had literally never met a spreadsheet. I’ve not followed a pre-ordained path. Rather, I‘ve tried to push myself, stretch myself, and learn new skills that would serve me whichever path I took. I’ve changed course and I‘ve taken unexpected turns when my gut dictated. That’s led me to places I never expected-but I‘m grateful I’ve been. So focus on what stirs your soul, because it‘s hard to excel at anything that you don’t love.
Be fearless. It is hard to make progress without breaking at least a little crockery. And don‘t be afraid to go down fighting, if you’re fighting a righteous battle. Stick to your guns and to your principles. Remember: you should never want something so badly that you do something you don‘t believe in to get it. At the same time, don’t sweat too much what other folks may think of you. As Dr. Seuss said,“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don‘t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Be about more than money. Comfort and economic security are good, but they‘re not enough. You should be about creating change, not just counting it.
And finally, as you’re changing the world, never neglect family. They‘re not just your foundation; they’re the source of life‘s greatest fulfillment, as all the parents here can testify. Both my parents were recently struck by serious illnesses. My colleagues were tremendous about stepping in for me at the halls of the United Nations, but nobody could step in for me or for my brother atthe hospital. There’s usually somebody else who can do your job, but there‘s nobody else who can be a loving child or a devoted parent.
Like those before you, your generation will contribute; it will innovate; and it will serve in unique ways. But today, change is coming faster than ever. And you must shape that change. You can be that change-not for an election, but for a lifetime.