Advice from Oprah Winfrey, Obamas, and Bill Gates to 2020 Class of Graduates

The unique “virtual” commencement speeches have some invaluable lessons for everyone

2020 has been a unique year with all things that we associate with the real world moved to the online world.

One big group of people affected have been students — especially the class of 2020 that has had to miss the big graduation ceremony thanks to the environment.

Yet, Facebook, Youtube, and other online platforms came together to bring the biggest visionaries and leaders to share their advice for the Class of 2020 via the power of the internet.

Having gone through some of these amazing speeches, here are some of the most valuable lessons that hold true not just for the graduating class but for all of us.

Oprah Winfrey: It’s OK to Not Have All the Answers

Oprah touches on the fact that this is probably a year where there is so much uncertainty, yet the reality is that it is always the case. Uncertainty is a big part of life, no matter what the circumstances.

Yet, it is important to believe in yourself and understand that the skills, the guts, and the imagination that has brought you this far will also help you find the answers.

What you need to do is to accept not knowing and wait long enough for the answers to come to you.

This by no means is advice to just do nothing and wait for the solutions — but points to the fact that each one of us has the answers within us, we just need to cut out the noise and connect with our true self to find them.

All you need to do is to take a pause, stand still and listen.

Bill & Melinda Gates — Your Actions Have a Global Impact

Bill and Melinda Gates in their message to the Class of 2020 draw comparisons to some older commencement speeches where the speakers have had to draw comparisons with “troubled areas of the earth”.

Yet, today, the COVID-19 crisis is not a localized experience but a truly global one. This generation comprises of people who have had access to the internet for as long as they could read and write.

This means that they understand the inextricable ties between the people of the world more than any other generation.

All the major challenges of the future — diseases, climate change, gender inequality, poverty — are challenges of a global nature.

And in a connected global world like today, each action and each career decision will have a global impact. So choose wisely.

Barack Obama — Do What You Think Is Right, Not Just Convenient, Expected or Easy

This is a really important one. Often, while making a big decision about our lives, we tend to ask ourselves the wrong questions and hence by default get the wrong answers.

Before getting into that big rat race for success, it is important to pause and ask yourself “What is really important?”

Simply doing what is good for you may mean you don’t end up with a lot of meaningful relationships or not enough contribution to the world.

And oftentimes, we tend to let our choices be influenced by what is easy, or the beaten track i.e. what everyone else is going after, and hence don’t necessarily pursue what we truly think is right.

The right choice is most often not the easiest path, but it is indeed the path you must choose.

Michelle Obama — Core Values Like Honesty, Integrity, Empathy, and Passion Are the Real Currency in Life

While Michelle recognizes that tricking people, using them, going down unethical paths may get you success fast, she also emphasizes that it is a “heavy way to live”.

It is a life that deadens your spirit and hardens your life. You rob yourself of the things that matter most.

Treating someone right will always go a long way in giving you results that will last a lifetime. You form strong relationships and earn long-term goodwill by doing the right thing, and leading an unethical, dishonest life full of ill-treating people will catch up on you.

As they say, what goes around, comes around. Every action and choice we make today comes back to reward us or haunt us in the longer run.

Oprah — Don’t Piece the World Together, Instead Create a New Normal

The world has been left in bad shape by the pandemic, and maybe there is an opportunity hidden in this ordeal.

Maybe this is our chance to not try and gather the pieces and patch the world back up, but create a new world that is more kind, just, beautiful, and whole.

The world has come to realize and acknowledge the various injustices today more than ever — across issues such as gender, race, health, economic status, and more.

This may be the perfect chance for future generations to reimagine the world we live in and create a more improved world. To quote Oprah as she puts this beautifully:

“If humanity is a global body, every soul is a cell in that body, and we are being challenged like never before to keep the global body healthy by keeping ourselves healthy in mind and body and spirit.”

Each of these visionaries provides nuggets of advice that isn’t relevant just for the graduating class, but for all of us struggling to find meaning and purpose to our lives in this unique environment. Hopefully, some of this will work for each one of us in different ways and show us the light we desperately need to see!