1、obama at arizona state universityi want to obviously congratulate the class of 2009youre your unbelievable achievement. (applause.) i want to thank the parents, the uncles, the grandpas, the grandmas, cousins - calabash cousins - everybody who was involved in helping these extraordinary young people
2、 arrive at this moment. i also want to apologize to the entire state of arizona for stealing away your wonderful former governor, janet napolitano. (applause.) but youve got a fine governor here and i also know that janet is applying her extraordinary talents to serve our entire country as the secre
3、tary of homeland security, keeping america safe. and shes doing a great job. (applause.)now, before i begin, id just like to clear the air about that little controversy everybody was talking about a few weeks back. i have to tell you, i really thought this was much ado about nothing, but i do think
4、we all learned an important lesson. i learned never again to pick another team over the sun devils in my ncaa bracket. (applause.) it wont happen again. president crow and the board of regents will soon learn all about being audited by the irs. (laughter and applause.)now, some graduating classes ha
5、ve marched into this stadium in easy times - times of peace and stability when we call on our graduates simply to keep things going, and dont screw it up. (laughter.) other classes have received their diplomas in times of trial and upheaval, when the very foundations of our lives, the old order has
6、been shaken, the old ideas and institutions have crumbled, and a new generation is called upon to remake the world.it should be clear to you by now the category into which all of you fall. for we gather here tonight in times of extraordinary difficulty, for the nation and for the world. the economy
7、remains in the midst of a historic recession, the worst weve seen since the great depression; the result, in part, of greed and irresponsibility that rippled out from wall street and washington, as we spent beyond our means and failed to make hard choices. (applause.) were engaged in two wars and a
8、struggle against terrorism. the threats of climate change, nuclear proliferation, and pandemic defy national boundaries and easy solutions.for many of you, these challenges are also felt in more personal terms. perhaps youre still looking for a job - or struggling to figure out what career path make
9、s sense in this disrupted economy. maybe youve got student loans - no, you definitely have student loans - (applause) - or credit card debts, and youre wondering how youll ever pay them off. maybe youve got a family to raise, and youre wondering how youll ensure that your children have the same oppo
10、rtunities youve had to get an education and pursue their dreams.now, you can take that road - and it may work for some. but at this critical juncture in our nations history, at this difficult time, let me suggest that such an approach wont get you where you want to go; it displays a poverty of ambit
11、ion - that in fact, the elevation of appearance over substance, of celebrity over character, of short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end. (applause.)that other stuff - that other stuff, the trappings of success may be a byproduct of this larger mis
12、sion, but it cant be the central thing. just ask bernie madoff. thats the first problem with the old attitude.thats true in whatever profession you choose. professors might earn the distinction of tenure, but that doesnt guarantee that theyll keep putting in the long hours and late nights - and have
13、 the passion and the drive - to be great educators. the same principle is true in your personal life. being a parent is not just a matter of paying the bills, doing the bare minimum - its not bringing a child into the world that matters, but the acts of love and sacrifice it takes to raise and educa
14、te that child and give them opportunity. (applause.) it can happen to presidents, as well. if you think about it, abraham lincoln and millard fillmore had the very same title, they were both presidents of the united states, but their tenure in office and their legacy could not be more different.so g
15、raduates, its now abundantly clear that we need to start doing things a little bit different. in your own lives, youll need to continuously adapt to a continuously changing economy. youll end up having more than one job and more than one career over the course of your life; to keep gaining new skill
16、s - possibly even new degrees; and youll have to keep on taking risks as new opportunities arise.and as a nation, well need a fundamental change of perspective and attitude. its clear that we need to build a new foundation - a stronger foundation - for our economy and our prosperity, rethinking how
17、we grow our economy, how we use energy, how we educate our children, how we care for our sick, how we treat our environment. (applause.)many of our current challenges are unprecedented. there are no standard remedies, no go-to fixes this time around. and class of 2009 thats why were going to need yo
18、ur help. we needyoung people like you to step up. we need your daring, we need your enthusiasm and your energy, we need your imagination.thats the great american story: young people just like you, following their passions, determined to meet the times on their own terms. they werent doing it for the
19、 money. their titles werent fancy - ex-slave, minister, student, citizen. a whole bunch of them didnt get honorary degrees. (laughter and applause.) but they changed the course of history - and so can you asu, so can you class of 2009. (applause.) so can you.but you can also make your mark in smalle
20、r, more individual ways. thats what so many of you have already done during your time here at asu - tutoring children; registering voters; doing your own small part to fight hunger and homelessness, aids and cancer. one student said it best when she spoke about her senior engineering project buildin
21、g medical devices for people with disabilities in a village in africa. her professor showed a video of the folks theyd been helping, and she said, when we saw the people on the videos, we began to feel a connection to them. it made us want to be successful for them. think about that: it made us want
22、 to be successful for them.thats a great motto for all of us - find somebody to be successful for. raise their hopes. rise to their needs. as you think about life after graduation, as you look into the mirror tonight after the partying is done - (laughter and applause) - that shouldnt get such a big
23、 cheer - (laughter) - you may look in the mirror tonight and you may see somebody whos not really sure what to do with their lives. thats what you may see, but a troubled child might look at you and see a mentor. a homebound senior citizen might see a lifeline. the folks at your local homeless shelt
24、er might see a friend. none of them care how much money is in your bank account, or whether youre important at work, or whether youre famous around town - they just know that youre somebody who cares, somebody who makes a difference in their lives.and thats not just how youll ensure that your own li
25、fe is well-lived. its how youll make a difference in the life of our nation. i talked earlier about the selfishness and irresponsibility on wall street and washington that rippled out and led to so many of the problems that we face today. i talked about the focus on outward markers of success that c
26、an help lead us astray.i know starting your careers in troubled times is a challenge. but it is also a privilege. because its moments like these that force us to try harder, to dig deeper, and to discover gifts we never knew we had - to find the greatness that lies within each of us. so dont ever sh
27、y away from that endeavor. dont stop adding to your body of work. i can promise that you will be the better for that continued effort, as will this nation that we all love.20132013-2013-50130-9820vets4vets-(peace corps)teach for americablue engine-(citizenshjp)-adlai stevenson-2002-1111-dysan-500015000-
