President Obama's Speech at ASU

On Wednesday, May 13, 2009, President Barack Obama addressed the graduating students at our school, Arizona State University. And my, his speech was, to say the least, inspiring and motivating. You can view the entire transcript of his speech here. But in this post, I wish to talk about my experience on that day, and what parts of his speech touched me the most.

A few of my friends are graduating this year, so I got a few tickets to the commencement which was held at the Sun Devil Stadium at ASU. My roommate S and I were getting ready to go to the stadium to listen to Obama's speech and encourage our friends who were graduating, including my other roommate S. (Hey, we're three S's in our house! Well, not anymore; the S that graduated left to Colorado on Saturday. Miss you, S!)

So, S and I left to the Metro Rail stop outside our apartment complex, and we saw a huge line right there. We went and joined the line, assuming that the line was for boarding, and after about 15 mins in the scorching heat of the bright Arizona sun, we found out that the line was for purchasing the ticket from the vending machine, and not for boarding the train! We felt really dumb because we were waiting unnecessarily in the line; we had our Student Passes for the train and didn't need to purchase tickets. Then after about 10 mins, a train came along - it felt like I was in India! The train was literally bursting with people! The doors opened, and it looked like people would fall out from within the train! Unfortunately, we were not able to get into that train and let it pass. Then came another train in 5 mins and thank God it wasn't full. In fact, it was quite free; we were able to get a couple of seats. The train ran only till the University Drive and Rural Road Stop, as that was the stop nearest to the stadium - so that meant it was one stop from our place. From there, we went on a bus shuttle to the parking lot near the stadium, and we walked toward the stadium only to join a HUGE crowd at the end! We kept going and going, and finally stopped and joined a queue. The sun was literally burning us up. My feet already showed signs of tanning! Finally we got past the security checkups and metal detectors and went in. That was the first time I was going to the stadium. It was amazing! It is so huge! Our seats were in Sector 245, which was in the second level. After climbing up and making our way through a pushing and pulling crowd, we finally reached our sector and went inside and climbed up to our row and found our seats. And that meant some more sun - our sector was directly facing the sun (sometimes, I felt that the sun was deliberately right in front of me!) and our row must have been like the 10th or 15th row from the ultimate top of the stadium! People down looked like red dots (students had their maroon graduation gowns)! S and I were speechless - not in a good way, though! After sometime, the stadium became packed with people. The Sun Devil Stadium is supposed to seat around 75000 people, and looking around, I just couldn't believe that I was looking at about 70000 people at the same time! This is the first time this was happening in my life! Wow! I guess the entire population of the city must have been there!

The program started around 6:30, with a band singing some stuff (pardon me, but I wasn't really concentrating neither was I too attracted to the "songs"!) and then, we saw some cheering and dancing from the cheerleaders (they looked like tiny yellow and white figurines from where we sat) and then finally, at about 6:55 or something, we saw the police cars and sirens and the black cars, and we knew that President had come. After a while, people gathered on the stage and they sang the United States' national anthem (nope, I haven't learnt it yet!).

The president of ASU, Michael Crow gave his speech, and they introduced the students who had made tremendous achievement (there was a 17 yr old girl who was graduating, and another girl who was graduating with 4 degrees! Way to go girls! Girl Power! ) and finally, the most awaited event - President Obama's address to the crowd. Once he got to the podium, there were so many camera flashes among the audience, it felt like that night the stars from the sky fell over the audience and glittered from amongst us. I have taken a video of that - seriously, twinkling stars from the audience; simply beautiful! See for yourself!


I have always been bored by speeches, and especially those coming from political figures. But this speech, I will never forget in my life. It must have probably been one of the very few speeches that I have been completely attentive to, and the most inspiring speech of all. It was more of a wake up call for me. President Obama talked about the present economic situation and how it has affected us. But he also talked about how we can help others and how we can give back to the community. He never once looked at the paper and most importantly, the words were simple, elegant words; no verbose language. Simple, easy to understand, down to earth language, yet packed with so much power and energy that would have definitely inspired every student and every person in the audience.

Here are some of my favorite lines from the speech - ones that really touched me.

... I come to embrace the notion that I haven't done enough in my life; I heartily concur; I come to affirm that one's title, even a title like President of the United States, says very little about how well one's life has been led -- that no matter how much you've done, or how successful you've been, there's always more to do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve.

... graduates, Class of 2009, that despite having achieved a remarkable milestone in your life, despite the fact that you and your families are so rightfully proud, you too cannot rest on your laurels ... You can't rest. Your own body of work is also yet to come.

...The same principle is true in your personal life. Being a parent is not just a matter of paying the bills, doing the bare minimum -- it's not bringing a child into the world that matters, but the acts of love and sacrifice it takes to raise and educate that child and give them opportunity.

And best of all, his definition of "young":

...when I say "young," I'm not just referring to the date of your birth certificate. I'm talking about an approach to life -- a quality of mind and quality of heart; a willingness to follow your passions, regardless of whether they lead to fortune and fame; a willingness to question conventional wisdom and rethink old dogmas; a lack of regard for all the traditional markers of status and prestige -- and a commitment instead to doing what's meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in this world.

...Acts of sacrifice and decency without regard to what's in it for you -- that also creates ripple effects -- ones that lift up families and communities; that spread opportunity and boost our economy; that reach folks in the forgotten corners of the world who, in committed young people like you, see the true face of America: our strength, our goodness, our diversity, our enduring power, our ideals.

Well, this doesn't just go to Americans, this speech is for each and every student in each and every part of this world. Honestly, I feel this speech should also be seen by our lazy, selfish politicians in India. Each person in India, as an individual should also take in the words of the speech. We should all strive to do something not for ourselves, but for the others. We should all strive to make a difference in other's lives.

One speech that I will never forget in my life, and that I will always look back at for motivation, when I feel lost or helpless.

Watch the full video below. It includes Michael Crow's introduction as well as the actual address by the President.


XOXO,

Inspired 'n' Ignited