Eric Church raised the bar for commencement speeches last month when he delivered a powerful, sermon-like address summing up “the six strings of life.”
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Dressed in a cap and gown and carrying his guitar, the country musician gave University of North Carolina graduates a simple image to guide their future — six guitar strings representing the six pillars of life.
“Six strings. When all six are in tune, the chords they make can stop a conversation cold, carry a broken person through the worst night of their life, or make a room full of strangers feel for three minutes like they’ve known each other forever. And if even one is off, the whole chord unravels. Not gradually, not politely — the moment you strike it, you know,” he said.
From there, Church demonstrated each of the six strings of life: faith, family, partnership, ambition, community and individuality.
Church spoke on the importance of building a foundation in faith, nurturing family relationships and the value of marriage, supporting community and making a unique contribution.
He urged graduates to prioritize keeping all six string in tune. Then, he concluded his message with an original song, “Carolina.”
“Your faith will go quiet when you need it loud,” Church explained. “Your family will get complicated in a way only the people who love you most can complicate things. You will go through hard seasons with your spouse. Your ambition will hollow out, and your resilience will wear thin. Your community will start to feel like an obligation, and your world will try to sand down the edges of exactly who you are.”
“The difference between a life that sounds like music and a life that sounds like noise is whether you stop and listen,” he continued, “whether you’re honest enough to hear which string has drifted out of tune and humble enough to make the adjustment instead of just turning up the volume and hoping nobody notices.”
Henry Winkler: ‘This world needs … you’
Beloved actor Henry Winkler returned to his alma mater, Emerson College, to deliver a humorous and energetic commencement address, sharing lessons from his life and encouraging graduates to face the future with tenacity and gratitude while offering their unique gifts to the world.
Opening with a candid account of his academic struggles, Winkler told graduated he ranked in the bottom 3% of his class before finding success as “the Fonz” on the hit sitcom “Happy Days.”
“I live by two words, tenacity and gratitude. Tenacity will get you where you want to go and gratitude will make you enjoy the journey no matter how bumpy,” Winkler said.
He concluded with a reminder of the importance of empathy above wealth and success, and told graduates to trust their own instincts when making decisions and searching for what gifts they are meant to share with the world.
“Every one of you is powerful. Some of you know your power. Some of you are scared of your power. Some of you haven’t touched it yet. You’re not aware it’s even there yet. And I want to tell you, you are powerful, and in you is a great gift,” Winkler said.
“And your job is to figure out what your gift is, because this world needs every single one of you. And your job is to find that gift and give it to the world. It doesn’t matter what it is. We need it! Go!”
Queen Latifah: ‘Be delusional’
On stage at North Carolina A&T State University, actress and rapper Queen Latifah told graduates to maintain “delusional amounts of belief and faith to dream beyond your wildest dreams.”
When reflecting on her own life, Queen Latifah shared the ways in which she carried a “delusional amount” of faith that she would make it as a musician and actress, noting that she had to believe in herself more than anyone else did to pull off her success.
“You have to believe in yourself more than anyone else does and sometimes you may have to go it alone. You can’t always bring along people unless they believe with you,” she said.
“Sometimes there’s just no way to make it to where you want to be unless you have the courage to stand alone. You have to have the bravery to step forward by yourself and go into a lane that no one else has driven.”
She then encouraged graduates to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable or afraid — and moving forward anyway.
“Be delusional,” she concluded. “Be delusional enough to call yourself something that the world hasn’t called you yet. Be brave enough to walk down a road that no one else can see but you.”
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Conan O’Brien: Embrace humility
Comedian and television host Conan O’Brien gave a sharp, witty address to Harvard University’s graduating class, encouraging them to embrace humility, learn to pivot and make being a Harvard grad the “least important thing” about them.
A few of his most valuable life lessons, O’Brien told graduates, are that nothing is accomplished alone and luck has played a major role in his success.
“Many people are happy to mistake a lucky poker hand for their own brilliance, and fighting that human instinct has kept me sane,“ he said. ”I honestly believe that community, spontaneity, and a real commitment to humility has helped me build a rich life that means much more to me than any diploma.”
He continued, “If you carry your victories lightly, other qualities — kindness, originality, courage, humor, and humanity — have room to emerge.”
O’Brien then urged students to allow themselves to be bad at things and to learn how to course correct when life does not go the way they anticipate or hope.
“My wish for you is not that Harvard becomes the last thing people know about you, but instead that Harvard becomes the least important thing people know about you,” he concluded.
“Because your real education starts now — with friends you’ve made and friends you’ve yet to meet, with stunning successes and miserable defeats, and with a humble acceptance that your greatness comes from the mess around you, not despite it.”
Hilary Duff: Learn to say ‘no’
Hilary Duff, the musician and actress known for her role in “Lizzie McGuire,” delivered an uplifting message encouraging Northeastern graduates to stay true to themselves and be intentional about the lives they want to build.
After starting her acting career at age 10, Duff eventually began to believe the right answer was always “yes.” She later discovered that “just because something is a good opportunity or a good paycheck, it doesn’t mean it’s right,” she added. “By simply accepting what the world was offering to me, I was losing my own voice.”
Duff then reminded graduates to ask themselves what they truly want, noting that saying “no,” is not always rejection, but can be redirection. When she briefly stepped back from her career, Duff said she was able to see how far she had come and urged graduates to pause and reflect on on how much they have achieved and overcome.
“What you do might change, but who you are never has to,” she said. “Remember you’re not just building a career or a resume; you’re building a life. You are the architect of your own happiness. You get to decide what belongs in your life. We only get one.”
She concluded by encouraging graduates to continue making a positive impact and to choose opportunities that challenge them and create room for growth.
“The world only becomes more interesting and accommodating and marvelous when people show up as they truly are,” said Duff, a mother of four children. “Something I tell my kids: You have to be who you are because everyone else is taken.”
Lindsey Vonn: Get back up after you crash
Months after her catastrophic crash at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, Lindsey Vonn told University of Southern California graduates that the most valuable lessons come from failure — especially in the moments when you pick yourself back up after you fall.
“I’m not up here to tell you how to win,” the three-time Olympic medalist said. “I’m up here to tell you how to keep going when you fall and why, if you do, the winning will come.”
“The path to success is not a straight line. Success is not possible without a foundation built on two things, belief and hard work. Not talent, definitely not luck. Belief and work,” she added.
Drawing on her own career setbacks and failures, including her recent Olympic crash, the Alpine skier reminded graduates that perfection is just an illusion and real growth comes from confronting challenges with courage and hard work.
“The personal losses taught me what I actually valued, what I was willing to fight for and what I needed to let go. The wins were incredible, and I cherish every single one of them. But the wins didn’t teach me who I was. The crashes did,” Vonn said.
“One of the few guarantees in life is that you’re going to fall and it’s going to hurt. In that moment, how you respond will matter more than anything else,” she said, advising the graduates to ask, “What can this teach me? Then get back up. Apply what you learned. And go again.”
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