Put God First in Everything You Do by Denzel Washington

#DenzelWashington #2015 #May #God #Inspire #graduate #young #sky #limit #success #fulfill #failBig #say #Thankyou

1. Put #God #first in everything #you do
2. #Fail #big
3. You'll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse and
4. #Say #thank you in #advance of what is already yours.

'Let me take this moment to wholeheartedly congratulate each and everyone one of you. You graduated. You did it,' he told the 218 graduates.

'Number one, put God first in everything you do. Everything that you think you see in me and everything you think I've accomplished and everything you think I have... everything I have is by the grace of God, understand that. It's a gift.'
He continued by telling a story about when he was 20 years old and was flunking out of college with a 1.7 grade point average. 'I hope none of you can relate', he added which was met by roaring laughter from the crowd.

The Academy Award-winning actor said he was sitting at his mother's beauty parlor at the time and a woman told him that one day he would travel the world and speak to millions of people.

Washington eventually received a bachelor's degree in drama and journalism from Fordham University in New York, according to the Huffington Post.

'I've kept God in my life and it's kept me humbled,' he said.

The three other key points of advice he shared included to
'fail big',
'you'll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse' and
'say thank you in advance of what is already yours',
which were captured in a video posted to YouTube by one of the graduate's loved ones.
'Today is the beginning of the rest of your life and you only live once, so do what you feel passionate about,' Washington told the graduates.

'Take chances, professionally. Don't be afraid to fail.'

He continued: 'Don't be afraid to dream big, but remember dreams without goals are just dreams and they ultimately fuel disappointment. So have dreams but have goals.

'To achieve these goals, you must apply discipline and consistency everyday. You have to work at it.'

Before the actor left the ceremony early so he could deliver another commencement speech at Wiley College in Texas, he was given an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the university, according to Nola.com.

His parting words to the graduates were that working hard is what successful people do.

Washington said: 'Don't just aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.'

Credit:
Motiv Speech@youtube.com
www.dailymail.co.uk

Lift Off BY DONOVAN LIVINGSTON

“Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin,
Is a great equalizer of the conditions of men.” – Horace Mann, 1848.
At the time of his remarks I couldn’t read — couldn’t write.
Any attempt to do so, punishable by death.
For generations we have known of knowledge’s infinite power.
Yet somehow, we’ve never questioned the keeper of the keys —
The guardians of information.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen more dividing and conquering
In this order of operations — a heinous miscalculation of reality.
For some, the only difference between a classroom and a plantation is time.
How many times must we be made to feel like quotas —
Like tokens in coined phrases? —
“Diversity. Inclusion”
There are days I feel like one, like only —
A lonely blossom in a briar patch of broken promises.
But I’ve always been a thorn in the side of injustice.

Disruptive. Talkative. A distraction.
With a passion that transcends the confines of my consciousness —
Beyond your curriculum, beyond your standards.
I stand here, a manifestation of love and pain,
With veins pumping revolution.
I am the strange fruit that grew too ripe for the poplar tree.
I am a DREAM Act, Dream Deferred incarnate.
I am a movement – an amalgam of memories America would care to forget
My past, alone won’t allow me to sit still.
So my body, like the mind
Cannot be contained.

As educators, rather than raising your voices
Over the rustling of our chains,
Take them off. Un-cuff us.
Unencumbered by the lumbering weight
Of poverty and privilege,
Policy and ignorance.

I was in the 7th grade, when Ms. Parker told me,
“Donovan, we can put your excess energy to good use!”
And she introduced me to the sound of my own voice.
She gave me a stage. A platform.
She told me that our stories are ladders
That make it easier for us to touch the stars.
So climb and grab them.
Keep climbing. Grab them.
Spill your emotions in the big dipper and pour out your soul.
Light up the world with your luminous allure.

To educate requires Galileo-like patience.
Today, when I look my students in the eyes, all I see are constellations.
If you take the time to connect the dots,
You can plot the true shape of their genius —
Shining in their darkest hour.

I look each of my students in the eyes,
And see the same light that aligned Orion’s Belt
And the pyramids of Giza.
I see the same twinkle
That guided Harriet to freedom.
I see them. Beneath their masks and mischief,
Exists an authentic frustration;
An enslavement to your standardized assessments.

At the core, none of us were meant to be common.
We were born to be comets,
Darting across space and time —
Leaving our mark as we crash into everything.
A crater is a reminder that something amazing happened here —
An indelible impact that shook up the world.
Are we not astronomers — looking for the next shooting star?
I teach in hopes of turning content, into rocket ships —
Tribulations into telescopes,
So a child can see their potential from right where they stand.
An injustice is telling them they are stars
Without acknowledging night that surrounds them.
Injustice is telling them education is the key
While you continue to change the locks.

Education is no equalizer —
Rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream.
So wake up — wake up! Lift your voices
Until you’ve patched every hole in a child’s broken sky.
Wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential.
I’ve been a Black hole in the classroom for far too long;
Absorbing everything, without allowing my light escape.
But those days are done. I belong among the stars.
And so do you. And so do they.
Together, we can inspire galaxies of greatness
For generations to come.
No, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning.
Lift off.

Credit:

gse.harvard.edu