Brad Meltzer’s 2024 Michigan Commencement Address – Make Magic

I stand here today as a proud Michigan alumnist but also as an even proud parent of one of the graduates and when I told my son Jonas that I would be today's graduation speaker his reaction was probably the same as many of yours and this is a direct quote what my son actually said you not Tom Brady there's so many people they can pick and he goes on it's like a 13th seed winning March Madness so first thank you to the people who believe in the 13th seed president Ono and the Regents including Mark Bernstein my Michigan classmate and friend distinguished faculty guests and staff special love to all the families and friends including my own who came here to celebrate the reason we are all here today the class of 2024 from the start it hasn't been easy for you you were born just before or in the aftermath of 9/11 all of us worrying about the world world that lay ahead of you 19 years later Co hit taking millions of lives and turning your first years here upside down it didn't stop you for so many this is your first proper graduation since middle school you know how long we've all been waiting for this day we all have past versions of ourselves all of us here including me at 22 years old I was graduating from Michigan I remember sitting right there I'll never forget that it was the year that football star Desmond Howard won the Heisman Trophy and midp speech midp speech the graduation speaker called Desmond Howard's name and he stood up and in full cap and gown did the Heisman pose I remember thinking I love being part of Michigan and seeing that Excellence from one of my classmates and as I look at the journey 22-year-old me up there to 54y Old me standing here it defies all logic there are many things that science and math can explain when someone offers you a breath mint take it learn the Uber driver's name if you're nice to me and a jerk to the waiter you're a jerk but some things are unexplainable they're just magic as a writer that's my job making things appear out of thin air so that's what I'd like to discuss today how to make magic of course that sounds absurd real magic doesn't exist but when you ask professional magicians they'll tell you there are actually only four types of magic tricks that's it put a side Illusions and escapes there's just four types of Tricks one you make something appear two you make something disappear three you take two things and switch places and number four you change one thing into something else so the first way for you to make magic you make something appear and what you need to make appear is you I'm not talking about showing up but making the best version of you appear we're all chameleons we act one way with our parents another way with our friends but as the writer Tim Urban explains underneath all those outer use is an inner you that's who you really are down deep the ultimate version of you the one where you feel the most confident and secure where you're fully present and focused that version only comes out with people you're comfortable with and who appreciate appreciate the real you and love you for it when I graduated Michigan my first job was in Boston with a boss who said he'd be my mentor and I was so excited but the week I got to Boston my boss left the job I thought my life was ruined so that night in some rundown sports bar I told my girlfriend I know what I'm going to do with this year what all of us all of us would do in a moment where we think our Liv lives are ruined I said I'm going to write a novel and my girlfriend had the best reaction of all she didn't laugh she told me go go write that novel she believed in that version of me that girlfriend gave me lift when I finally wrote that book I got 24 rejection letters there were only 20 Publishers at the time and I got 24 rejection letters that means some people were writing me twice to make sure I got the point but I said if they don't like that book I'll write another and if they don't like that book I'll write another I realized I wanted to be a novelist and my girlfriend she didn't laugh at that either that next book did get published I owe her forever for that lift she gave me why do you think I married her she's here in the stadium the mother of my graduate and can we hear it for every strong mother father grandparents whoever it is who helped raise you whether they're here today or not let it hear it for them in the big house something happens when I got that unconditional support Professor Jane Dutton calls it a reflected best self-portrait when someone you trust sees your potential and says they believe you can be that person it opens up a path and inspires you to become that version of yourself that's why the friends you're sitting next to right now matter hold tight to them their love and Trust are key ingredients because when you leave here your mission is to make the best version of you appear and then watch surprise yourself build something that can't be ignored will be the ones cheering which leads to the second way to make magic you make something disappear and it's tempting to say that you should make fear disappear but let me challenge that in high school I had a job scooping ice cream at the hogendas in the Aventura Mall and one day this woman came up and she started snapping her fingers at me you need to serve me she barked and I said ma'am I'll be right with you and now she says and we go back and forth and eventually I say to her you know what ma'am you're being rude I'm not serving you you better serve me she yelled and when I refused she screamed in my my face you're going to be working in this miserable ice cream store for the rest of your miserable life and I calmly told her ma'am if I am working here for the rest of my miserable life you're still never getting any ice cream and for decades I used to tell that story laughing saying it never even bothered me but I need to admit here it did bother me it terrified me my dad struggled financially his whole life and it made me feel like my life would be filled with that same Financial struggle but I now also realize that fear that fear this woman brought out of me it fueled me it drove me it's the same thing our football team did this year how do you think Michigan vers everybody worked that feeling when we lost our coach everyone telling us we were done and finished God did it feel good to fight back to beat p State beat Ohio State for the third time go to the rosebowl right go to the rosebowl and come on you know what's coming winning the national championship your senior year so yes make your fear disappear but not because fear is bad use your fear harness it let them underestimate you in the end don't Vanquish your critics prove them wrong which leads me to the third way to make magic you make two things change places with each other and here let's talk about empathy that's what empathy is switching places with someone else and putting yourself in their shoes when I was 13 years old my dad lost his job he barely had any savings and we had no place to live so my parents moved us from Brooklyn New York to Miami Florida where my grandparents lived so we could stay with them until we got back on our feet and for months six of us my mom dad sister myself plus two grandparents lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment and since it was Florida all the condo Commandos complained that we couldn't have that many people in such a small space and then one day the neighbor across the hall told my grandmother that she'd leave her own apartment and give it to my grandparents so we could use it so my family could have some space and comfort and not have to worry about those who wanted to evict us I remember her name as Marcy which is a kid I always heard as Mercy make no mistake mercy and empathy is what she showed us today cruelty and Venom harshly judging those we disagree with it's become sport in our culture but cruelty and Venom on proof of strength they're signs of weakness and Petty insecurity what takes strength is switching places and putting yourself in someone else's shoes and it's not easy right it's not easy in fact studies show studies show that that when we get too much bad news our brains get overwhelmed that's why we change the channel we swipe to a new app and shut down do not shut down we need you if you shut down we're in trouble today in the stands there are families experiencing divorce and financial hardship some of your fellow students are fighting cancer two are getting postumus degrees today since they passed away and many have buried parents and grandparents during their time in Michigan every family in this stadium has someone who they wish could be here today I wish my parents were alive to see my kids today to see that we're okay as you go through life every person you encounter is battling something you can't see the solution is switching places and feeling empathy as the saying goes one day someone is going to hug you so tight that all of your broken pieces will fit back together the world needs more empathy more humility and certainly more decency if you really want to shock the world unleash your kindness that's a completely naive idea but it's an idea worth fighting for now we talked about the magic of making something appear making something disappear and making two things switch places which leaves us with the final way to make magic changing one thing into something else the hardest trick of all transformation who you are today isn't the person you'll be in the future graduation may feel like a finale but it's not an end point so let me just say it never stop changing when I was little my favorite thing in the amusement park was the Hall of Mirrors some people love watching little kids crash into the glass I loved it because I had hair back then and it was glorious but what I really loved about the Hall of Mirrors was how you could turn your head just slightly and all those versions of you would appear all the possibilities as we get older it's human nature to see just one version to get locked into ways of thinking about the world about your Life Path about who you are but as a friend recently told me when you write things in stone everything becomes hard and brittle and starts collecting dust as you leave Michigan writing pencil and be unafraid to use the Eraser the person who thinks they're the smartest in the room I promise you is not the smartest in the room that's just the one with the most fragile ego the most sophisticated and intelligent people I know are the ones willing to challenge their thinking and admit there's more to learn life will absolutely not be what you think it will be it will be hard and wonderful and messy and rewarding with more versions of you than you think possible the only immutable fact is you should never be immutable keep transforming learning and never think you know it all instead see yourself in the Hall of Mirrors Endless Possibilities now you know the four ways to make magic make the best version of you appear make your fear disappear and harness it switch places to find empathy and never stop transforming so let me reveal the final step what all four tricks have in common they take effort they take you things don't just appear or Disappear by themselves making magic figuring out who you are takes work time and intentionality as writers Simon synic reminded me that's how magic is full commitment to the bit or it all falls apart so many people so many people sacrificed to get you here today but that love is not left in the stadium wherever you go the best part is Michigan never leaves you we even have our own Abracadabra magic word you'll see you'll be in an airport and you'll spot that Block M on someone and you will whisper it without even thinking the magic words go blue and that person that person will nod and you'll instantly be transported back to this place like magic and you'll make plans and come back with your friends all of you wearing your own Block M opening your shirts to show them off like Superman's big red s and then maybe one day you'll come back proudly to watch your child like we're watching all of you the Unstoppable class of 2024 become Michigan graduates and that's the best trick of all you graduating the University of Michigan you already won that's it you won like I said like I said there are past versions of all of us and the only thing I know for sure is if that past version of you you could see you now they would look at you in awe as for that past version of me I see myself at 22 sitting in my own cap and gown watching Desmond Howard do his pose as the graduates cheer and it reminds me that magic is never for yourself it's a gift you give other people and that's the real reveal in our time together I used magic as metaphor but real magic the most powerful magic that comes from making memories memories that endure like cherish friendships memories so powerful that even though they happened years ago you can feel them now see them now conjured out of thin air that's the thing about time and memory they're slippery which is why the best magicians always have a final trick up their sleeve sometimes magic is hiding right in front of you the entire time class of 2024 ladies and Gentlemen please welcome my friend Desmond Howard [Applause] here's the thing though here's the thing if you want to be the best magician you got to top your last trick class of 2024 it's your turn now welcome your national champions Blake Corb and JJ McCarthy [Applause] treasure treasure your memories here and don't ever forget the only people who see magic are the ones who look for it Jonas Lilo you know how much I love being your dad class of 2024 show them what you got make magic go Blue oh

Channel: Brad Meltzer

Views: 9,742

Keywords: Brad Meltzer, Brad, Meltzer, Brad Meltzer Official, Brad Meltzer Official Channel, Official Channel, Ordinary People Change the World, Author, Writer, Thrillers, Inspirational Speaker, Inspirational, University of Michigan, Commencement Speech, Graduation, Michigan, Go Blue

Id: qSO_t39lszo

Length: 19min 27sec (1167 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2024