Turning to your future.

In a world that’s always online and endlessly archived, it’s easy to get caught up in what was. But real hope? Real momentum? It lives in the next step, not the last one. Former Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt once offered graduates a powerful reflection - one that’s less about tech and more about what makes us human. It’s not just an idea it’s a call to re-center on what (and who) truly matters.

“What is the meaning of life? Correct question to ask at a University. In a world where everything is remembered and kept forever, the world your graduating into, you should live for the future and the things that you really care about. Don’t live in the past, live in the future. And what are those things. To figure this out you need to actually turn off your computer, I know this is difficult. You need to turn off your phone. You need to actually look at the people who are near you and around you and decide that it is humans who ultimately are the most important thing to us not the other aspects. You’ll find out, I hope, what I believe very strongly that people all around us of every race, color and viewpoint are fundamentally want the same things. They want a great and safe world and they want prosperity and peace among all of us. You’ll find that curiosity, enthusiasm and passion are very contagious and I want you to show that because you have it by virtue of being here.””

_{Source: Schmidt, Eric. Carnegie Mellon. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 17 May 2009. Commencement Address. (Transcribed from video).}