Commencement |

I’ll be honest in saying that I never had the pleasure of attending my commencement at Northwestern University. Due to mitigating circumstances, I was never afforded the chance to drape myself in Wildcat Purple. I had to be with family in Houston at the time, but that is another story in itself.

In a roundabout way, I look to the words of J.K. Rowling and Steve Jobs as the commencement speeches that I never had. Both of these individuals set a path for themselves. The feeling of irony sets in whenever I think of those who forged their own path guiding those who have followed the set paths of academia. Both speakers touch on the topic of failure. Many of us try our best to avoid the experience. Understandably, no one relishes the stumble or the fall. Yet, without that experience, you will never tap into your inner store of strength. If failure did not enter the lives of Jobs or Rowling, I do not think they would have attained the success they enjoy now. Failure provided them the tools of success taught by both hard and soft lessons.

Failure and disappointment heralded a period of great creativity. With her failures behind her, she realized her only desire was to write novels. With his failures, Jobs began to pursue the things that he truly loved which eventually led to the Apple Renaissance.

Someone once told me that you learn who you truly are through failure. Failure can come in many guises, but it represents your rock-bottom. In this gray space, you learn how strong or how weak you are. It is a harsh mirror. It can either make you lose or renew faith in yourself. Failure presents a choice – to rise up or stagnate in a pit of regret. By learning who you truly are from within and without, you learn what you want to do in this life – or rather what you would love to do. Who knows what can happen if you follow this path.

In the past, whenever I thought of the term ‘commencement’, I always thought it represented the end of a long, hard-fought journey culminating in a degree – whether it be 2 or 4 years. But, I was wrong. In truth, the definition of commencement is that of a beginning rather than an end.

With each failure in my life, I carried each one as if it were the end of me; yet, in reality, each failure was a new start – the catalyst to forge ahead and pursue my loves and realize my potential.