I was honored to be one of the commencement speakers at the Ocean Discovery Institute graduation ceremony this year. Better still, I got to fete (or “fête”, if I am being fancy) four wonderful Ocean Leaders who graduated from college this year - Marlem Ocampo and Kimberly Sanchez (SDSU), Ezra El-Aton (UCSC), and Cuauhtémoc Soria (UCSD). Honestly, what a delight to get to give a speech for these amazing people, who I have been lucky enough to get to know these past several years. Rather than share the video of me looking like a doofus in my graduation regalia, I will share the text of my very brief speech.
Oh, and for context - if it seems odd that I did not address the current social unrest, note that this was recorded before George Floyd was murdered, and the aftermath of that killing.
May 17, 2020
Let me start by ruining the ending of my talk…I am not going to be inspiring today. But maybe the reason I am not going to inspire you will make this in some way helpful.
These are incredibly fraught times. Political and economic unrest, environmental and social justice crises, coronavirus. And don’t get me started on murder hornets!
It is easy to be discouraged or overwhelmed. And yet…
Rather than feeling pessimistic about the future, I feel hopeful. It is you - not some generalized “ah, the youth of today” kind of you, but literally you - Marlem, Ezra, Kim, and Témoc - who I have spent time with, from measuring cactus on the islands of Bahía de los Ángeles and walking across remote wetlands, to watching you become mentors yourselves to younger Ocean Leaders. YOU convince me that we can tackle these problems. And it isn’t just me - my family, my colleagues, your families and communities - we aren’t just proud of you, we are *inspired* by you.
So I am not here to run through the usual commencement speech tropes. I am not here to tell you that you will experience both great challenges and great joys - although you will. And I am not here to say that you need to embrace failure, or be kind, or follow your passion - although of course you should. And the last thing you need is me to tell you to “change the world”, because clearly you have already started.
What I want is for you to understand that when I feel discouraged, I get my inspiration by looking at you, and what you have accomplished. And while you may not see it, there are so many of us in your families and communities who do the same. So the reason I cannot give one of those “here is my wisdom for you” speeches is because you have already shown that you have the drive, the creativity, and the mindset - you don’t need me to tell you that stuff.
All of those problems facing the world that I mentioned at the start?
Yeah - you got this.
And those murder hornets had better watch out.