Press Release: Remarks of President Barack Obama at the Kalamazoo High School Commencement in Kalamazoo, Michigan - As Prepared for Delivery

As Prepared for Delivery—

Good evening everyone. Congratulations Class of 2010 on your graduation, and thank you for allowing me the honor of being part of it. And let me acknowledge your governor, Jennifer Granholm; as well as Senators Levin and Stabenow; Congressman Upton; Superintendent Rice; and your Mayor, Bobby Hopewell, who I understand is a proud Kalamazoo Central graduate himself.

Thanks also to Principal Washington for that kind introduction and for his energy, enthusiasm and leadership at this school.

And I want to recognize our student speakers — Cindy and Simon — for those wonderful remarks and all their achievements here at Kalamazoo Central.

Now recently, an article from your local paper, the Kalamazoo Gazette, was brought to my attention. It ran just after this school had been chosen as one of six finalists in our Race to the Top Commencement Challenge — a contest to highlight schools that promote academic excellence and personal responsibility and that best prepare students for college and careers. And this article quoted a young lady named Kelsey Wilson — a junior at Kalamazoo Central — who said, and I quote, "We're the kind of school that never gets credit for what we do. Our school is amazing."

Well Kelsey, Class of 2010, members of the Kalamazoo community, I'm here tonight because after three rounds of competition, with more than 1,000 schools, and more than 170,000 votes cast, I know — and America now knows — what you've done at Kalamazoo Central.

Together as a community, you've embraced the motto of this school district: "Every child, every opportunity, every time," because you believe, like I do, that every child — regardless of what they look like, where they come from, or how much money their parents have — every child who walks through your schoolhouse doors deserves a quality education.

And I'm here tonight because I think that America has a lot to learn from Kalamazoo Central about what makes for a successful school in this new century: Educators raising standards and inspiring their students to meet them. Community members stepping up as tutors and mentors and coaches. Parents taking an active interest in their kids' education — attending those teacher conferences, turning off that TV, and making sure that homework gets done.

Our Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is here tonight because these are the values — these are the changes — that he's working to encourage in every school in this nation. This is the key to our future.

But the most important ingredient is you: students who raised your sights; who aimed high and invested yourselves in your own success. It's no accident that so many of you have received those college admission letters, Class of 2010. Because you worked for it. You earned it.

So I agree with Kelsey: what you've done here at Kalamazoo Central is amazing, and I'm proud of you. America is proud of you.

Now graduates, all these folks around you with the cameras and the beaming smiles — they've worked hard to give you everything you need to pursue your dreams and fulfill your God-given potential. Unfortunately, you can't take them with you when you leave here. No one's going to follow you around making sure you get up in the morning, and get to class or to your job, and get all your work done on time. Going forward, that's all on you — responsibility for your success rests squarely on your shoulders.

And the question I have for you today is this: What are each of you going to do to meet that responsibility?

Now I realize that you're all getting plenty of advice right about now — some of it helpful, some of it kind of annoying. And I hate to pile on. But while I'm here, I would like to offer a few thoughts based on my own experiences and my hopes for all of you, and for our country, in the years ahead.

First, understand that your success in life won't be determined just by what's given to you, or what happens to you, but by what you do with all of that — by how hard you try; how far you push yourself; how high you're willing to reach. Because true excellence comes only through perseverance.

This wasn't something I really understood back when I was your age. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother. And I had a tendency, as my mother put it, to act a bit casual about my future. I was angry and rebellious. I partied a little too much and studied just enough to get by, thinking that hard work and responsibility were old-fashioned conventions that didn't pertain to me.

But after a few years, living solely for my own entertainment wasn't so entertaining anymore — and it wasn't particularly satisfying either. In refusing to apply myself, I didn't have much to show for myself — nothing I could point to that I was proud of.

Unfortunately, all of you have come of age in a popular culture that tends to reinforce this approach to life — one that says you can be rich and successful without much effort; that glorifies celebrity, reality TV notoriety, over lasting career achievement; that tells you there's a quick fix for every problem, a justification for every selfish desire. And you all were raised with cell phones and iPods; texting and email; able to call up a fact, a song, a friend with the click of a button — so you're used to instant gratification.

But meaningful achievement, lasting success — that doesn't happen in an instant. It's not just about the twist of fate, or the lucky break, or the sudden stroke of genius. Rather, it's about the daily efforts, the choices large and small that add up over time. It's about the skills you build, the knowledge you accumulate, the energy you invest in every task, no matter how trivial or menial it may seem at the time.

Kalamazoo Central alum Derek Jeter wasn't born playing shortstop for the Yankees — he got there through years of effort. His high school baseball coach once remarked, "I'm surprised you don't still see the blisters on my hands from hitting ground balls just for Derek." He always wanted more: ‘How about one more turn in the batting cage? Or 25 more ground balls?'"

Thomas Edison tested more than 6,000 different materials for just one tiny part of the light bulb he invented. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Mozart practiced for hours each day to become a musical prodigy — accumulating thousands of hours at the piano by the time he was just six years old. And I understand that your boys' basketball team worked long and hard to become state champions for the first time in 59 years.

Today, you all have a rare and valuable chance to pursue your own passions and chase your own dreams without incurring a mountain of debt. So you've got no excuse for giving anything less than your best effort.

That brings me to my second piece of advice, and it's a very simple one: don't make excuses. Take responsibility not just for your successes, but for your failures as well.

The truth is, no matter how hard you work, you won't necessarily ace every class or succeed in every job. There will be times when you screw up, when you hurt the people you love, when you stray from your most deeply held values.

And when that happens, it's the easiest thing in the world to start looking around for someone to blame. Your professor was too hard; your boss was a jerk; the coach was playing favorites; your friend just didn't understand. We see it every day out in Washington, with folks calling each other names and making all sorts of accusations on TV.

This community could have easily gone down that road. You could have made excuses — our kids have fewer advantages, our schools have fewer resources, so how can we compete? You could have spent years pointing fingers — blaming parents, blaming teachers, blaming the principal or the superintendent or the government.

But instead, you came together. You were honest with yourselves about where you were falling short. And you resolved to do better — to push your kids harder, to open their minds wider, to expose them to all kinds of ideas and people and experiences.

And graduates, I hope you'll continue those efforts. I hope that wherever you go, you won't narrow the broad intellectual and social exposure you've had at Kalamazoo Central — but instead, seek to expand it. Don't just hang out with people who look like you, and worship like you, and share your political views. Broaden your circle to include people with different backgrounds and life experiences. That's how you learn what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes. That's how you come to understand the challenges other people face.

And I don't suggest this as some kind of academic exercise, but as a way to broaden your ambit of concern and learn to see yourselves in each other. And that brings me to my final piece of advice for you today: and that's to give back, to be part of something greater than yourself.

Now I know that many of you have already served your community through efforts like your Stuff the Bus food drives and groups like Activists for Action. And I commend you for that.

But I also know that many of you are the first in your families to go to college. And right about now, you may be feeling all the weight of their hopes and expectations coming down on your shoulders.

And once you start juggling those classes and activities and that campus job; and you get caught up in your own dramas and anxieties; you may feel like you've got enough on your plate just dealing with your own life. It might just be easier to turn the channel when the news disturbs you; to avert your eyes when you pass the homeless man on the street; to tell yourself that other people's problems really aren't your responsibility.

But think for a minute about the consequences of that approach here in this community. What if those Kalamazoo Promise donors had said to themselves, "Well, I can pay for my kid to go to college, why should I pay for other people's kids too?"

Think about the consequences for our country. What if our Founding Fathers had said, "You know, colonialism is pretty oppressive, but I'm doing OK, my family's doing OK, so why should I spend my summer in Philadelphia arguing about a Constitution?"

What if those abolitionists or those civil rights workers had said, "You know, slavery is wrong, segregation is wrong, but I just don't have time for all those meetings and marches, so I think I'll take a pass."

And I want you to think for a minute about the extraordinary men and women who've worn our country's uniform and given their last full measure of devotion to keep us safe and free. What if they had said, "You know, I really do love this country, but why should I sacrifice so much for people I've never even met?"

You and I are here today because these people made a different choice. They chose to step up. They chose to serve. And I hope you'll follow their example. Because there is work to be done, and your country needs you. We've got an economy to rebuild, children to educate, diseases to cure, threats to face, and a devastating oil spill to clean up. And it'll be up to all of you to meet these challenges — to build the industries, make the discoveries, inspire the next generation, and heal the divides that continue to afflict our world.

I'm not saying you have to do all of this all at once. But, as Teddy Roosevelt once put it, I am asking you to "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are." And I can guarantee you that wherever your journey takes you, there will be children who need mentors, senior citizens who need assistance, folks down on their luck who could use a helping hand.

And once you've reached out and formed those connections, you'll find that it's a little harder to numb yourself to other people's suffering. It's a little harder to ignore the national debates about the issues that affect their lives.

In the end, service binds us to each other — and to our communities and our country — in a way that nothing else can. It's how we become more fully American.

I think that's the reason those donors created the Kalamazoo Promise in the first place — not for recognition or reward — but because of their connection to this community. Because of their belief in your potential. And because of their faith that you would use this gift not just to enrich your own lives, but the lives of others — and the life of our nation.

And I'm told that soon after the Promise was established, a first grader approached the superintendent at the time and declared to her: "I'm going to college. I don't know what it is, but I'm going." A first grader.

We may never know those donors' names. But we know how they helped bring this community together and how you've embraced their Promise not just as a gift to be appreciated, but a responsibility to be fulfilled. We know how they've helped inspire an entire generation of young people here in Kalamazoo to imagine a different future for themselves.

And graduates, today, I am asking you to pay them back by seeking to have the same kind of impact with your own lives; by pursuing excellence in everything you do; and by serving this country that we all love.

I know you can do it. After all, you are the Giants — and with the education you've gotten here, and the chance you have now to continue it, there is nothing that you can't accomplish.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.