Video: My Commencement Speech

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Published: May 30, 2009

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Visitor Comments: 14

(14) Cathryn, January 5, 2012 2:44 AM

Interesting

This is a great video and I have watched it many times and shown it to a few people. I just watched it again and it brought to mind a class I took at uni. It was an 'Introduction to Media Studies' class, and in the very first lecture the lecturer asked for a show of hands of people in the class who wanted to get into the advertising industry, and pretty much the whole class put their hands up! (I didn't, I was just doing the subject as an elective). The lecturer then told the class that maybe 10 or 15 of them (out of 200 students) would actually end up working in the advertising industry because it is so competitive. So it's interesting that so many people at Lori's ad agency wanted to do something else, but the majority of the people in my class just wanted to be in advertising. Although, perhaps advertising was their "practical" choice of career, but their passions really lay elsewhere. Dunno. Interesting though :)

(13) Joey, July 18, 2009 6:22 PM

Thank you! This feels like just what I needed right now. May God bless!

(12) Jill, June 6, 2009 9:17 AM

So timely

This was extremely timely for me and for my husband. He was laid off recently after 20 years in the software industry. We are following his passion and starting our own business. It's NEVER too late to follow your dreams!

(11) LORI, June 4, 2009 6:23 PM

IVE BEEN LEAD BY THE SPIRT,I JUST STUMBLEON THIS

I STUMBLE ACROSS THIS, I GUESS IT WAS FAITH. IM NOT JEWISH, BUT I CRIED,EVERYTHING YOU SAID, WAS MEANT FOR ME TO HEAR I CANT EVEN MOVE!!!I LOVE READING YOUR MATERIAL, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE IM ABOUT TO FOLLOW MY DREAMS, AND KNOW ONE WILL GET IN MY WAY.MY HUSBAND FEELS BAD ABOUT HIS SELF, HATES HIS JOB ,AND THE FACT THAT IM ALWAYS A POSITIVE PERSON, IM GONNA LISTEN TO MY INNER SONG! YOU JUST GAVE ME HOPE!!I KNOW ILL CRY AGAIN I JUST HAD TO DOWWNLOAD THIS TO HEAR IT AGAIN AND AGAIN,DONT KNOW WHAT MADE ME GO TO THIS SITE BUT THEN AGAIN, YES I DO,A HIGHER POWER,WHO ALWAYS GUIDE MEOH, AND BY THE WAY, MY NAME IS LORI TOO!! SPELLED THE SAME WAY. THIS IS ALL SPIRTUAL, I BELIEVE .THAT. PLEASE RESPONE ,WILL READ MORE OF YOUR MATERIAL TOM.MY GOD LORI ALL THESE YEARS I LET PEOPLE MAKE ME BELIEVE I COULDNT GO AFTER MY DREAMS. THIS IS MY YEAR AND IM GONNA GIVE IT MY ALL!!! YOU DON''T KNOW HOW YOU''VE TOUCH ME,

(10) batsheva, June 4, 2009 4:23 PM

dream

What if you don't know what your passion in life is, or what your talents are...how do you follow your dream, if you don't know what it is? Thanks.

(9) ruth housman, June 4, 2009 9:18 AM

life is an add agency!

Dear Lori, thanks for such a wonderful commentary about something so important. Follow what draws you most and pay attention as best you can to that "inner voice". We all have particular creative passions and there is never too late a time to engage with those deepest dreams even if we have to modify them somewhat, there is always a way. Sometimes, the "journey" that is life takes us in directions that seem to be pulling against the tide, but we can always find or fight our way back, and to do one thing does not mean that we have forever closed that golden door that still beckons, that is part of soul, passion, and love. Sometimes it is the journey itself that informs all of this, and adds a depth to life we never thought possible, even those paths that do not seem to have been quite right. I do believe it's all about journey and love itself as a guiding force.

(8) david, June 3, 2009 4:29 PM

yishar koach

by far your best and most powerful message, form and content. keep'm coming. please.

(7) Bill Pentecost, June 3, 2009 12:40 PM

Thanks

Thanks Lori - informative and uplifting - even to a 63 year old non-jew.

(6) Lawrence, June 2, 2009 11:12 AM

Right On!

Lori's is right! In God's providence I have been able to follow that advice and follow my passion for plants and teaching. Her advice is something that I have given to my students over the years. Lawrence

(5) Anonymous, May 31, 2009 6:10 PM

What about us, the people not graduating this year...

Wow, what a great message. Whats funny is that people that graduate college probably don't need to hear that as much as people finishing high school do. I am in middle of college and have been talked out of all of my 'silly dreams' already. Granted, some weren't so realistic, but the bottom line is that once a person is done with college, they finish their decision on life. You graduate with a degree which limits your future or focuses it. Either way, its good to hear this speech while I'm still in school and could change paths of my future and not in a couple of years when its too late. KT

(4) elliora, May 31, 2009 3:42 PM

I just graduated...

Dear lori, I just graduated at the beginning of May (in Australia) and the commencement speech that was given to us at the ceremony left me a little bewildered. As you know, it can be overwhelming to go out into the world and live exactly our dreams. Your commencement speech makes me want to at least try to live my ideal life! Thank you!

(3) SusanE, May 31, 2009 1:24 PM

Passion Can Be Hard to Recover

Thank you for the video this week Lori. I would hope that incoming Freshment sudents would hear your speech instead of the Graduating students. Your message is a very wonderful thing to tell our children. Happiness and fulfilling their passions is what we would want for them. I have often thought that a lot of young Jewish lives are so controlled that they don't experience any of their own passion. I can't imagine that every young Jewish person wants to become a Rabbi, or an Attorney or a Physician or in the Professions. I doubt these were the passions in life that they felt as a young person. If one was to say to their parents in their second year of med. school, Mom, Dad, I appreciate your wanting me to have this education, but "I am going to follow my passion, learn a trade, and work for a small construction company in Newark and do photography in my spare time." Not many parents that I know would encourage their sons to do this. Perhaps if the men could have followed their passions earlier in life, they wouldn't be looking outside their Jewish community for that passion now. This is just my observation, and I do offer it with respect for education.

(2) Anonymous, May 31, 2009 8:14 AM

I am glad you followed your passion and left advertising. Your videos are so wonderful, and I hope I can thank you in person one day for your beautiful messages.

(1) Rosen, May 31, 2009 8:13 AM

purpose

Finding purpose after college graduation is certainly a matter of what our goals and passion are all about. However, in this economic recession with many college graduates moving back home with their folks, it's not necessarily easy to find a permanent and secure job. I am one of them in particular, BUT, I do have a job and will soon have a second one in a few weeks. I graduated from college 3 years ago with a Bachelor's degree and am doing my best to apply it.

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About the Author

Mrs. Lori Palatnik

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Lori Palatnik is a writer and Jewish educator who has appeared on television and radio, and is the author of "Friday Night and Beyond: The Shabbat Experience Step-By-Step," "Remember My Soul - What to do in Memory of a Loved One," and co-author of "Gossip: 10 Pathways to Eliminate It From Your Life and Transform Your Soul." She is a much sought-after international speaker, having lectured in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Central America, South America, South Africa and Israel, including featured talks at Yale, Brown and Penn. She lives in the Washington D.C. area, with her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik. Lori is the Founder of The Jewish Women's Renaissance Project, an international initiative that brings over 1,000 women to Israel each year from ten different countries on highly subsidized programs to inspire them with the beauty and wisdom of their heritage. She is the busy mother of five children, ages 24 to 14; and her son, Zev, just finished serving as a sharpshooter in the IDF. Her weekly video blog, "Lori Almost Live" is a popular feature on aish.com, viewed by over 50,000 people each month.

Follow Lori on Twitter, @LoriAlmostLive

My Commencement Speech

What I would tell college graduates.

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