5 Inspiring Commencement Speeches 

A graduation is an exciting time for anyone, but for a medical, dental or nursing student it has a little more emotion behind it. This is where you are finally recognized for the dedication, determination and drive it took for you to tap into your full potential in order to complete the rigorous coursework. At Black Finch we like to say you’ve worked hard, made an impact and embraced the grind in style.

Whether you are in nursing, medical or dental school, you have sacrificed your social life, time with family and the freedom to do what you want, when you want. Now is the time to take what you’ve learned and put it into action. You’re now free to enhance the lives of others on the daily!

As you’re given your diploma and you walk down the aisle to your seat, you’re on cloud nine- just beaming with pride because you’re officially a professional in your field who gets to inspire leadership, health and perseverance! Speeches are given by students, professors and then there is one speaker who is there to simply continue inspiring the drive it takes to succeed, not only in your field, but in life.

Below is a list of Commencement speeches that continually emphasize what we believe in, which is cultivating a community of highly motivated, successful medical professionals.  These speeches remind us that what we have sacrificed to be able to live in this culture every day is it worth it.

Steve Jobs – Stanford, 2005

Steve Jobs said it right!

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.”

We wouldn’t be in this field is we didn’t love it. We wouldn’t be in this field if we didn’t expect to fail at some point. The beauty of being in this mentally challenging industry is that we thrive when life hits us on the head with a brick. We think on our feet and we’ve thought through every option and every outcome in order to ensure we stay at the top of our game.

Oprah Winfrey – Harvard, 2013

Get it, girl! You heard it from the Queen herself.

“No matter what challenges, setbacks or disappointments you may encounter along the way, you will find true success and happiness if you have only one goal, there really is only one, and that is this: to fulfill the highest most truthful expression of yourself as a human being.”

Black Finch is committed the driven and we believe that those who are driven and fulfill their purpose, are those who are living in the best version of who they are. In the healthcare industry, we spend a lot of time and energy putting everyone else ahead of ourselves, so it is crucial that we know who we are and what we stand for, so we don’t lose ourselves in our pursuit of helping others.

Admiral William T.H. McRaven – University of Texas, Austin, 2014

In Admiral McRaven’s Commencement speech he talks about making the world a better place. He says that if every individual can change the lives of 10 people within their lifetime, imagine how much better the world would be. We’ve taken this one to heart because we firmly believe that this is possible. We go out every single day with the mindset of helping others. In the medical industry there are days when we get to change the lives of 10 people in one day! There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing you changed someone or the better.

Alan Alda – Carnegie Mellon University, 2015

In his 2015 commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University, Alan Alda speaks on the impact of uncertainty and how being uncertain will not be your downfall, but your uprising.

Please raise your hand if uncertainty devoured your mind for the majority of med school. Now raise please raise your other hand if you embraced that uncertainty and persevered through the challenges. If you have both hands up go ahead and wave them from left to right and do a little dance because you, my friend, have made it farther than most!

Jennifer Lee – University of New Hampshire 2014

You may not know who this woman is, but you will after this video. She is the CEO of Walt Disney Animations and the writer and director of the Disney hit, Frozen. In her 2014 commencement speech, Jennifer Lee discusses how releasing self-doubt will allow you to grow into the best version of yourself.

Self-doubt will be the kryptonite for anyone in the healthcare field. As medical professionals, we’re lucky. We have been taught to dismiss self-doubt. When the lives of others are literally in your hands, you don’t have the option of doubting anything. You are instinctual. You are logical. You are a doctor.

Black Finch is an organization that is committed to the driven. We believe that success comes to those who are ready to work hard and go all in, in all aspects of life. We know that what we do is not something everyone has the drive to do. We took the time to work our butts off. We chose to enter a field where most fail because our motivation and determination to make an impact on people’s lives overpowered the temptation of a nine to five job.

While we were in school, we knew that we wouldn’t be highly rewarded for what we were doing. We knew we wouldn’t even get a comfortable uniform to work in, but we did it anyways because we wanted to positively impact the lives of others. Black Finch exists because to the core of who we are, we believe that in a profession where you enhance lives and even save them every single day, you deserve to look good and be comfortable while you’re doing it. Stop wearing scrubs. Start wearing Black Finch.