Commencement Speech Version 2

This was inspired by a friend's suggestion and completed after I knew I would not be speaking. Consequently, it would have never made it as a speech, but was a lot of fun to write.


To the class of 2011: congratulations! We made it to the end, having learned first-hand the meaning of the phrase, “IIT – If you’re not sleep deprived, you’re doing it wrong.”Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but the truth is, getting a degree from IIT is a big achievement. I hope that for many of us this will only be the first step; that we’ll go on to accomplish bigger and better things. But for now, and especially today – be proud of it.

Over the past years, we’ve learned many things at IIT, both in and out of the classroom. For example, we learned that stress is what a body experiences during finals week, and how covalent bonds are like monogamous relationships. It was also at IIT that I personally learned I’m a nerd. And I’ve come to be proud to admit it. You see, IIT tends to attract a certain type of individual, thus creating something of a unifying nerd culture. How many of you (no matter your ethnicity) have listened to Weird Al’s “White & Nerdy” and thought at some point: “Oh my god, that’s me”? Here, students of diverse backgrounds and majors can bond over their favorite episode of “Dr. Who,” geek out over a new gadget, or establish dominance in a game of DOTA.

Nerds come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, IIT has a wide range of nerds – some dress up for a midnight showing of Harry Potter, while others like to build speakers, others regularly go to Ren Fairs, and yet others are fond of moding their cars. And it’s not just students. The nerd influence basically permeates the campus. I met Perry the maintenance worker, who likes playing chess on a regular basis, and Professor Ruiz, who admitted in class to having a sizeable collection of video games. Yes, even some of the professors here are nerds. (Psst, that’s how they got to be professors in the first place!)

Doctor Kallend once said to us in an ITP class “I’m a nerd, I know. But it's okay to be a nerd, because you get paid more.” His words ring true: some of the highest earning nerds include the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and world’s youngest billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg. Okay, it’s a fact of life that not everyone can achieve those heights of prominence. However, being even a little bit of a nerd can help set one on a path to success. How? Because we have interests that are intellectually stimulating, non-mainstream, and can build up useful skills, all of which lends itself to the development of bright, multi-talented individuals, who demonstrate creative, non-traditional thinking, not to mention an improved ability to handle various daily challenges, and learn on one’s own. These are desirable traits in any walk of life. They are a typical result of a Tech school education, and IIT allows such a culture to thrive. Students can join clubs of interest (or start their own), connect with professors who do exciting research, and apply what they learn in class to their hobbies. This nerd culture is what I personally will cherish and remember most about my time here.

I’ve heard it said on occasion that IIT has no social life. That is not true: the social life at IIT is rich and thriving, it’s just… well, nerdy. People here socialize daily while doing homework, or watching “The Big Bang Theory” or throwing a Pi Day Extravaganza, or attending parties. You know, LAN parties. So what? For a lot of us, it’s an enriching and enjoyable way to spend our time, so why should it be considered inferior to the stereotypical college social scene?

For what it’s worth, the general public is embracing the nerd culture more and more these days, even letting their kids watch movies like “Megamind,” “Despicable Me” and “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” “The Social Network” was even nominated for an Oscar. In fact, “nerd” is gradually but steadily becoming the new “cool.” Soon enough, elementary school kids will start playing with nerd action figures, middle-schoolers will strive to get nerd cred, and teenage girls will be exclaiming adoringly: “Oh my gawd, he is soooooo nerdy.” No longer will we stand to be treated like nerd-class citizens. And the geeks shall inherit the earth.

As we bid farewell to the mothership today and go our separate ways, let us remember that prophecy. May luck and good spirit accompany us on our journeys. I hope the knowledge and experience you gained at IIT will serve you well and that you will remember it fondly. I also hope the diplomas you receive today will always remind you that you are now a certified nerd.

Commencement Speech Version 1

I submitted this for consideration to the committee but did not make it to the top five.

My fellow graduates: congratulations! We survived our academic battles and have come to claim our reward. We fought valiantly, persistently, and celebrated galore. These words of felicitation might seem cliché, but the truth is, getting a degree from IIT is a big achievement. I hope that for many of us this will only be the first step; that we’ll go on to accomplish bigger and better things. But for now, and especially today – be proud of it.

I remember attending an Orientation Session as an incoming freshman almost four years ago. Everything seemed so new, different, kind of exciting. With Professor Kallend’s recommendation, I started as an MMAE major. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I did learn many things, like the fact that stress is what a body experiences during finals week, and how covalent bonds are like monogamous relationships. But I learned just as much, if not more, outside of the classroom.

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons to be taken away from IIT is the ability to change. Because regardless of whether your perception of it has been altered, over the past few years, IIT has changed, and it changed a lot. Things like the Idea Shop, IPRO 2.0, the Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability and the Customer Service improvement program did not exist; library hours and food service options have been expanded significantly, remote printing became available, and even the recycling bins got more sophisticated. Not to mention the countless administrative and curriculum modifications – less noticeable to the student, but just as important to university life.

Not every decision was popular, and eventually some might need to be rolled back or corrected. But the parallels to a constantly evolving living system are unmistakable. And the most exciting part, in my opinion, is that a number of these changes were student-driven, be it through SGA, the Students Speak survey, or simply active individuals who made their voices heard. I think we’ve all grown while at IIT, and it grew with us.

This often vast personal growth that happens to people in college is also what is responsible for the stereotype of a bubble they live in – buried in books, neck-deep in social life, unaware of current events and missing the bigger picture. However, this self-imposed incubation environment is a natural occurrence, simply a stage of life. The trick is to gently crack it open, climb out and face the world, along with everything that has happened while we were tucked into our microcosm of college.

This experience is much like going from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a very, very big one. On the bright side, we can apply what we learned in and out of the classroom to help us cope. This is where IIT’s lesson of change comes in handy. First, that being open to transformation and having the ability to adjust quickly are key to a successful existence. And second, if you can change IIT, you can change the world. Our time is now.

Thank you.