Barbara
Pierce Bush: Commencement Address at
delivered
Thank you. Thank you, very much. Thank you
very, very much, President Keohane. Mrs. Gorbachev,
Trustees, Faculty, Parents, and I should say, Julia Porter, class president,
and certainly my new best friend, Christine Bicknell -- and, of course, the
Class of 1990. I am really thrilled to be here today,
and very excited, as I know you all must be, that Mrs. Gorbachev could join us.
These are exciting times. They're exciting in
More than ten years ago, when I was invited
here to talk about our experiences in the People's Republic of
Now this little girl knew what she was, and
she was not about to give up on either her identity, or the game. She intended
to take her place wherever mermaids fit into the scheme of things. Where do the
mermaids stand? All of those who are different, those who do not fit the boxes
and the pigeonholes?" "Answer that question," wrote Fulghum, "And you can build a school, a nation, or a
whole world." As that very wise young woman said, "Diversity, like
anything worth having, requires effort. Effort to learn about
and respect difference, to be compassionate with one another, to cherish our
own identity, and to accept unconditionally the same in others.
You should all be very proud that this is the
In the world that awaits you, beyond the
shores of
The first is to believe in something larger
than yourself, to get involved in some of the big
ideas of our time. I chose literacy because I honestly believe that if more
people could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer to
solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.
And early on I made another choice which I
hope you'll make as well. Whether you are talking about education, career, or
service, you're talking about life -- and life really must have joy. It's
supposed to be fun!
One of the reasons I made the most
important decision of my life, to marry George Bush, is because he made me
laugh. It's true, sometimes we've laughed through our tears. But that shared
laughter has been one of our strongest bonds. Find the joy in life, because as
Ferris Bueller said on his day off, "Life moves
pretty fast; and ya don't stop and look around once
in a while, ya gonna miss
it!"
(I am not going to tell George ya clapped more for Ferris than ya
clapped for George.)
The third choice that must not be
missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and
friends. For several years, you've had impressed upon you the importance to
your career of dedication and hard work. And, of course, that's true. But as
important as your obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be,
you are a human being first. And those human connections --- with spouses, with
children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever
make.
At the end of your life, you will never
regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not
closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child,
a friend or a parent.
We are in a transitional period right
now, fascinating and exhilarating times, learning to adjust to changes and the
choices we, men and women, are facing. As an example, I remember what a friend
said, on hearing her husband complain to his buddies that he had to babysit. Quickly setting him straight, my friend
told her husband that when it's your own kids, it's not called
babysitting.
Now, maybe we
should adjust faster; maybe we should adjust slower. But whatever the
era whatever the times, one thing will never change: fathers and mothers, if
you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children.
And you must hug your children. And you must love your children. Your success
as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White
House, but on what happens inside your house.
For over fifty years, it was said that the
winner of
And who knows? Somewhere out in this audience
may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over
the White House as the President's spouse.
I wish him well!
Well, the controversy ends here. But our
conversation is only beginning. And a worthwhile conversation it has been. So
as you leave
From: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarabush.htm