I chose Jason Gay, not because I already knew who he was like the first three speakers, or even because I was familiar with the prestige of the school he was speaking at, the previous speaker. I chose him for a couple of reasons: when I did a general search in YouTube for commencement speeches, his popped up several times in both longform and shorts, and when I googled him, I saw that he was a writer at the Wall Street Journal. So basically, it was the prestige of his employer that draw me in. All that was left to do was see if that arbitrary selection process would yield a speech I would enjoy listening to or regret. Here’s Jason’s speech…
Inspirational Takeaways/Quotes
Understanding your purpose creates a happier life.
Joy is important.
“You will be humbled. You will recover.”
Overall Thoughts
I like this speech because it wasn’t stiff, stuffy or pretentious. He used a mix of the new by incorporating video clips which would have been too much of a hassle or impossible to do back in the day, to also giving a dose of the motivation and inspiration that I’ve traditionally come to expect for a commencement address. This speech was simple, yet effective, funny and moving. It was overall, my favorite.
The Clue Breakdown
Did you decipher yesterday’s clue? I’ve got the breakdown for you. But first, let’s revisit it:
It’s your business if you don’t know who the next and final speaker is. Don’t worry, it’s one of the few times this person won’t be keeping score.
The “It’s your business,” part in the beginning of the above clue is the slogan of the Wall Street Journal where Jason Gay works.
The part that says, “Don’t worry, it’s one of the few times this person won’t be keeping score,” references Jason’s jobs as sporter writer at the Wall Street Journal. It’s a play on the fact that sports writers usually keep up with the scores of games.
Welp, that’s all for my commencement speech series – hope you enjoyed it!
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