Last night I walked on stage to a packed house at Temple University’s Liacouras Center to deliver the commencement address to the class of 2024 at Franklin Towne Charter School in Northeast Philadelphia.
My message to them was a simple question-
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐞?
𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰 – 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐏𝐀 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫.
𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫.
𝐒𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐞?
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫.
It was truly an honor and privilege to have to opportunity to deliver this commencement address to an inspiring group of students.
Congratulations to all the graduates in the class of 2024!!