My 2020 Commencement Speech ??

I had the opportunity to be the commencement speaker for UC Merced’s 2020 graduating class this past weekend and couldn't be more grateful for the experience.

The moment I found out that I'd be taking the (virtual) stage, I immediately started working on my speech. Shortly after cranking away at my message, I found myself in a moment of deep reflection on my life, my career, and how UC Merced has impacted my trajectory.

During my 6-minute speech, I highlight my personal story, provide a few (actionable) words of wisdom, and talk about the power of being a UC Merced grad (73% of the population being first-generation students check out more UCM stats at the bottom of the page).

My first piece of advice: Your network is your net worth.

• The people who you’ve had class with, partied with, and pulled all-nighters with to cram for exams -- these are the people who are going to be there for you in the coming years. And especially now that the world of work is a bit different due to COVID, I believe that by keeping in contact with one another and sticking together -- then you all will flourish into amazing professionals.

My second piece of advice: Don’t. Stop. Learning.

• This one sounds off, right? You just spent years of your life knee-deep in mountains of books learning and now is the time to just focus on work, right? Wrong. I recently published a book in which I studied over 930 hours of research on how the world’s most successful people achieve their goals and one of the commonalities that I found is that the best of the best never stop learning. Once you’ve adopted a life of continuous learning, then there isn’t a thing you can’t do. But it starts with an open mind and willingness to learn.

My third piece of advice: Have fun and try to enjoy what you do! (cliché…. I know)

• Don’t be afraid to switch careers just because it may not be something you studied. If you enjoy doing something and it provides value to a company, then go for it. And if there isn’t a company willing to hire for that specific job, start your own company and hire your friends. How do you think Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat got started?
• If you can’t land a job doing what you want to do and don’t want to start your own company, try taking a side gig or start a project doing what you love. It can eventually turn into a full-time job down the line if you work at it.

After sharing my message above with the graduating class, I realized that there is so much more that I wish I knew as a graduating student.

This prompted me to spend a few hours over the weekend to put together a playbook that would help grads transition into their professional lives.

Click here to grab a free copy.

Please share this playbook with anyone in your network who recently graduated!

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Additional facts about UC Merced:

• · UC Merced started in 2005
• It is a research student-centered university
• The Fall 2018 student census shows 8,800 students enrolled. There are 7,881 undergraduate students and 663 graduate students, 91,6% of whom are pursuing doctoral degrees
• UC Merced continues to have a diverse student population. Hispanics are the largest ethnic group (54%), followed by Asians (20%), whites (10%), and black (5%)
• UC Merced official's goal is to reach 10,000 students by 2020, with 1,000 at the graduate level.

 About UC Merced's Undergraduate Population:

· More than half of the undergraduates …

• speak a language other than English at home (72.2%)
• are first-generation college students (73.2%)
• come from low-income families (Pell grant recipients) (63.8%)
• The San Joaquin Valley contributes the largest percentage of undergraduates at UC Merced (30%). Another 30% are from the greater LA area, and 25% from the Central Coast and San Francisco Bay area.

#BobcatStrong