Best Commencement Speeches

Congratulations to all my juniors in ITB! Last weekend was the graduation ceremony day for ITB class of 2013. Somehow it reminds me about one of the happiest moments in my life. That was my graduation day in 2008, a couple years ago. "Today is yours," they said. All classmates were smiling happily as they succeeded to finish their education in the most prestigious university in my country. Pardon me for the narcissism.

Computer Science ITB – Class of 2008

I remember a heap of happy people with nice suit and dress inside their graduation gown, and a bunch of happy parents were proud of their sons and daughters. I remember the classic European style of ceremony with "Gaudeamus Igitur", one of most infamous commercium songs, was played as the backsound of one session. Getting our graduation cap tassle moved by our rector before we were shaking hands and taking photo with him. We were also listening to the boring speeches from the faculties and student representatives, which I am pretty sure nobody remember about it, except for one or two students who delivered the speeches itself.

Somehow I envy the graduation ceremonies in some universities in the US, which usually invite their famous alumni to give one of the most important speeches in their academic life. It is the last lesson students get before entering the real world. I cannot understand why my almamater haven't adopted this concept by inviting our famous successful alumni for giving commencement address. CMIIW, but I hope they will start the tradition soon.

Here I post my favourite commencement speeches, yes they all are from US universities. Actually you can easily find the other version of the best commencement speeches – such as from TIME magazine. However, in this list I prefer they who are in IT industries. They delivered inspiring speech and even some of them were presenting in a funny way. They all are my inspirations, and I hope someday we can be like them.

Steve Jobs, Stanford (2005)




Memorable quotes:
  1. You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.
  2. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
  3. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Full script: 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
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Knowledge for Society: Mengintegrasikan Nilai Ekonomi dan Sosial

Pada Juli 2013, komunitas pelajar Indonesia di Korea Selatan berkumpul di kampus KAIST, Daejeon, untuk menghadiri CISAK (Conference of Indonesian Students Association in Korea) keenam. Dengan tema "Empowering National Pride through Knowledge Collaboration", konferensi ini menjadi wadah bagi para peneliti muda untuk memaparkan inovasi mereka di berbagai klaster—mulai dari teknologi informasi hingga pertanian. Selain paparan riset, konferensi ini menghadirkan dua figur pemimpin inspiratif: Ridwan Kamil (arsitek dan pendidik) serta Ilham Akbar Habibie (tokoh industri dirgantara).


CISAK 2013 - Daejeon, 7 Juli 2013


Insight Utama: Creativity for Society

Sesi yang paling membekas bagi saya adalah keynote speech dari Ridwan Kamil bertajuk "Creativity for Society". Saya telah mengikuti pemikiran beliau sejak TEDxJakarta 2010 sebagai sosok akademisi yang mampu mengeksekusi karya nyata di tengah masyarakat. Dalam paparannya di CISAK, beliau mendemonstrasikan bagaimana kolaborasi kreatif lintas komunitas dapat membawa perubahan konkret bagi sebuah kota, bahkan sebelum beliau menjabat di pemerintahan. Pesan intinya sangat jelas: ilmu dan kreativitas mencapai nilai tertingginya ketika diaplikasikan untuk memecahkan masalah nyata di masyarakat.



Refleksi Strategis: Persimpangan Profitabilitas dan Dampak

Sejak menempuh pendidikan bisnis di KAIST, sudut pandang saya terhadap inovasi mengalami evolusi. Setiap kali melihat riset atau teknologi baru, insting saya secara otomatis menganalisis model bisnisnya: How to make it profitable and sustainable? Saya percaya bahwa secanggih apa pun sebuah inovasi, jika tidak memiliki nilai ekonomi (baik dalam jangka pendek maupun panjang), maka skalabilitasnya akan terbatas.

Namun, mengoptimalkan economic value saja tidak cukup. Sebagai pemimpin, kita harus mempertimbangkan social value—sejauh mana inovasi tersebut bermanfaat bagi publik. Idealnya, sebuah bisnis atau riset harus berada di persimpangan keduanya: menguntungkan secara finansial dan berdampak secara sosial.

  1. Inovasi yang Menguntungkan & Berdampak: Inilah "Gold Standard" yang harus dikejar oleh organisasi modern.
  2. Inovasi Berdampak namun Belum Menguntungkan: Tanggung jawab kita adalah mengupayakannya agar setidaknya menjadi berkelanjutan (sustainable).
  3. Inovasi Menguntungkan namun Kurang Berdampak: Di sinilah integritas individu berperan untuk mengalihkan sumber daya (seperti melalui filantropi atau inisiatif sosial) agar tercipta keseimbangan manfaat.


Kesimpulan: Menuju Purpose-Driven Leadership

Kita tidak perlu menunggu untuk menjadi sosok besar seperti Warren Buffett atau Bill Gates untuk mulai berkontribusi. Prinsipnya sederhana: Think big, start small. Kita bisa mulai mengintegrasikan nilai-nilai kebaikan dalam setiap keputusan bisnis atau riset yang kita ambil hari ini. Seperti pesan yang tertulis dalam kitab suci: "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."