Tag Archives: Ursula Le Guin

Graduation Round-up

Last week my husband and I had the parental gratification of cheering two daughters as they received Bachelor of Science in Nursing pins. The commencement speaker took as his theme their college’s tag line “Find your purpose.” It’s a lofty rhetorical exhortation and the newly minted nurses seemed inspired by it.

It also set me to thinking about the importance of taking the next step–after finding our purpose we must embrace our power to achieve it.

College graduates today are often most worried about very practical matters like whether they can find jobs of any kind, let along jobs that represent the fulfillment of their purpose. Fortunately, for that one graduation day, or at least for a few hours, they can immerse themselves in the joy of accomplishing something significant, and they can feel unlimited. My wish for them is to hold onto that feeling and actualize in their lives as they go forward.

My original title for the book that became No Excuses was in fact Unlimited. Because honestly I believe women are now–or can be–unlimited in every way. So this week’s roundup highlights commencement speeches that emphasize those messages. I’ll start with a few current and past here:

Megan Seely to Sierra College-2010

Gloria Steinmen to Smith College-2007

Ursula LeGuin to Mills College-1983

AAUW’s pick of best graduation speeches-2010

And since it’s still commencement week, would you please share below links to any speeches you hear–or hear of–that inspire you to be unlimited? I’ll add them to the post as they come in.

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Copyright 2010 Gloria Feldt