|
 Fardon said that while preparing for the speech, he tried to
remember commencement speeches that he had seen or read over the
years, but couldn’t recall a single one. So, he did what any good
writer would do and Googled “Best commencement speeches ever.”
With many to choose from, he decided that, “No one remembers
commencement speeches. It doesn’t matter how great, insightful,
profound, or funny they are; nobody remembers commencement
speeches." He concluded, "That is because graduation is not about
speeches. It’s about your deeds and your accomplishments. It’s about
what you’ve done, how you’ve done it and those who’ve helped get you
here.”
Fardon's own story started with majoring in German in college. “Only
two percent of the world’s population speaks German and 100 percent
of that two percent speak fluent English.” After college, he
traveled to Germany and worked in a restaurant in the airport for
three months, learning that he had no idea how to communicate in
German or how to survive in a German culture.
He came home and applied for the LSAT (Law School Application Test)
not because that was what he wanted to do, but because that’s what
he thought his parents wanted him to do. While waiting to hear the
results of the test, he packed up his car, drove to Colorado by
himself, looked at the want ads and got a job at a ski resort. He
worked there for six months before deciding to enroll in law school.
[to top of second column] |
Fardon told his story to the graduates to emphasize
the following:
-
Don’t over worry
your future. You do not have to have it all planned out. “If you
do well at what’s in front of you and you are good to those
around you day after day, year after year, you will find
happiness and success in this life.”
-
Don’t
underestimate the power you have to impact the world around you.
Public service is not about sacrifice. Sacrifice is when you
give up something that makes you happy. You don’t have to be a
public servant to make a positive difference. “From this point
forward, carry the responsibility as a citizen to make your
community safer, to report wrong doing where you are and to look
for ways to make your family and neighborhood better, safer, and
stronger."
-
Don’t ever be
apathetic. Evil is not the biggest threat to our society. That
title belongs to apathy, the failure to act. Zachary quoted
Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
is that good men do nothing.”
As the U.S. Attorney Fardon saw this evil right here
in Illinois. “Whether you’re in Chicago or Lincoln, IL - whether
you’re overseas or here at home - whether you’re rich or barely
getting by - whether you end up working in public service or the
private sector - whether you become President or wait tables; what
is going to define you in this life is not your title or your salary
or your status. If you’re lucky, what will define you is your heart.
It’s your willingness to get involved and help those around you.”
[Lisa Ramlow] |
