Text of the student address at Baccalaureate

Welcome seniors and other graduates. Welcome families. Welcome faculty, administrators and trustees. Welcome friends.

Members of Stanford University’s Class of 2004: Congratulations, this year is our year. Today, the mix of emotions is powerful. We are thankful and relieved, sad to leave familiar friends and places, and excited to explore the world. Tomorrow we will graduate and so today is a time for celebration. But today is also an important time for reflection. As we celebrate with different traditions, we are reminded of common purpose and values across diverse beliefs. Together, we all appreciate the world that we have, and still we long to improve it and help those who are suffering.

Like most college students, I came to Stanford not just seeking an education but in search of my own identity as well. At this moment, I am struck by just how much I have learned here, both about myself and the world. The opportunities and challenges offered by this university, the friends and the mentors we have met here, have expanded our horizons and tested our limits. For many of us, our intellectual passion has evolved into a powerful blend of idealism and pragmatism. We are audacious enough to seek a more just, a more peaceful and a more prosperous world, and we are willing to find practical solutions in every discipline: humanities and sciences, business, medicine and law.

Seniors, I believe in a single ideal: Be true to yourself. What have you really learned at Stanford, and what has moved you? After the chaos of this weekend, find time to think about these questions. The life decisions we face now should be based on our talents and our convictions. Like many in our generation, I am not a religious individual, but I share hope for a better world, I share faith in our ability to create it, and I share love for the good in every human being. If we are true to ourselves, these convictions are stronger than the cynicism that infects our daily lives. Our truest beliefs —­ our hope, our faith and our love — underlie a common spirituality that inspires us to be who we are in our best moments.

This is not the first time I have used my beliefs to guide me while leaving Stanford. The winter quarter after the September 11 tragedy, I left our university for Afghanistan, where I assisted my father, the current finance minister there, in the first year of the reconstruction effort. It was an extremely difficult decision to go, both because of the friends I left behind and the challenges I soon embraced, and it remains one of my proudest moments. With that decision, I recognized a need to leave Stanford in order to continue my education in the world. With that decision, I affirmed that there were those outside of my privileged life, people who had suffered and struggled more than I could imagine, who were worth working with and living for.

We each face similar decisions now: What will be the new path in our lifelong education and what do we consider worth living for? Let us take time to think of our plans for the summer, for the next few years and for after that. We must ask a hard question: Will we be satisfied with what comes next, or is there something missing?

As we sit here at Stanford, villages across Afghanistan are receiving block grants to use however they want: maybe building a school, or digging a well, or starting a micro-finance project. This grassroots community development program is planting the seeds of democracy by giving local communities the power to control their own resources for reconstruction, and thus direct their own futures. Tomorrow, we will each receive our own block grant: a degree from this world-renowned university. As you decide how best to use your degree to direct your future, please continue to trust yourself and be true to your convictions.

Tomorrow’s graduation is only the beginning of our learning experience. We must keep asking hard questions about how we can make a difference in a world challenged by injustice, insecurity and poverty. Let us balance our reflection with action, let us balance our idealism with pragmatism, and let us be ready to accept that not all questions have clear answers. Above all, let us not wait for inspiration from others, but let us be inspiring for others. Our world needs great teachers as much as it needs great political leaders; our world needs strong friendships and families in times of crisis; our world needs our leadership, for acts both large and small.

Seniors, I feel privileged to have witnessed so many acts, so much of your strength and compassion, over the past four years. You give me hope for the future we will build together. Thank you.