“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen”

Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth College Commencement Address

Last year, Conan O’Brien gave the commencement address to 2011’s graduating class of Dartmouth College.  Using humour, O’Brien shared his own personal experiences by drawing from his successes and failures, resulting in inspiring and engaging many in his journey.  Today this video is shared with our CSI readership to encourage and challenge everyone to be open-minded and create possibilities for yourself.  Expect to make mistakes and experience failures as both of these are great learning experiences and sometimes lead to even better outcomes than you could have predicted.  Remember --change occurs constantly and may seem out of your control, but expect the unexpected.  When you do encounter changes it can lead to new paths, so pay attention and take advantage of those emerging variables. 

“Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that's okay. Four years ago, many of you had a specific vision of what your college experience was going to be and who you were going to become. And I bet, today, most of you would admit that your time here was very different from what you imagined. Your roommates changed, your major changed, for some of you your sexual orientation changed. But through the good and especially the bad, the person you are now is someone you could never have conjured in the fall of 2007.”

Thing’s you dreamed today will change and its okay. Because if you “work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen”. Open to possibilities and challenge yourself.