Class of 2026 Commencement Address

I had this whole speech planned about how nothing in life is free.  And then I get here to Galesburg, the town where I was born; I come here to Knox College, I got a free breakfast this morning, I got free clothes, they just gave me this, this thing [plucks at hood], I got all these . . .  it’s unbelievable, so I’m going to ditch that speech and go with plan, Plan B here. 

I’ll start by saying good morning, graduates. Yeah. It’s an incredible day for you all. And before I say anything else, I think we should take a moment to soak this in—the accomplishment that you’ve, that you’ve just done with the past few years of your life, so if you could give yourselves a round of applause that would be great. Much deserved. You’ve earned it.

Yeah, the time and effort that each one of you committed to this, congratulations.

And now what? Now a new beginning, your future. So what in the world are you supposed to do now? You all spent all of this time and money, or maybe it was your parents’ money, I don’t know, either way, we’re all here, we all got dressed up, most of us anyway, we’re all dressed up, we put the gowns on, we’re going to throw up our hats in the air and then bam, you graduated, right? But now what? [Pause.] No one, huh? Okay. 

You spent the past several years following instructions, writing essays, chasing grades, passing classes, earning credits. Each one of you had a goal. This institution had a plan for you to accomplish that goal. And here we are. So what in the world do you do now? [Pause.] No one, okay. 

Well, now it’s your turn to lead. And you can do it. You’re graduates. You decide. You’re in charge. Dedicating several years of your life to get your degree says a few things about you to me. It says you have desire, you have the ability to see things to the end, you take pride in yourselves, and it says to me that you’re off to a great start. 

When I was your age I really had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I knew I was driven to do something, I didn’t really know what, if I’m being honest. But one thing I can share with you today, that I believe in for sure, one thing that I’ve done for myself over the years, is always believe in, trust, and bet on yourselves. And don’t ever do any of those things alone. Lean on others. Ask for help; seek out advice. Surround yourself with wonderful people that prop you up and support you. 

Much like your time here at school, life is a team effort. So be there for others, prop them up, support them, attack life together, and wonderful, wonderful things can happen. 

Now, you have your whole lives ahead of you, and as wonderful as this day is, the best things about your life have yet to happen. Think about that. My hope is that you get to experience those events while surrounded by people that you love. Because here’s the very, very cool thing about life, in my opinion: you get a lot of time to figure it out. You’ll probably spend the rest of your lives trying to do so, actually.  You don’t have to have all the answers right now, and that’s okay. My hope is that you have lives filled with incredible achievements like this one, today. You’ll have some setbacks along the way, it’s unavoidable, it’s inevitable, it’s life, just the way things go. Life is going to come at you fast and furious at times, but it’s important to take time and enjoy it. Enjoy the moments. 

You’ve already accomplished so much, and the fact that you’re here today speaks to that. And now a new beginning. Savor it. You’ve earned it. 

Now, the idea that you’re now done with this portion of your education, most of you will be entering the workforce, can be a daunting, a scary thought. Will I get a job? If I do, how long will it take me to get that job? How much money am I going to make? Am I going to be able to pay my bills? Where will the job take me?  Where will I live? Am I going to meet the right person? What about kids? Do I want kids? Family? Oh, taxes! All this. You’re all gonna pay taxes, it’s never going away. It’s something that we all have in common. 

It’s been my experience that life really does have a funny way of working out if—if—you work hard at whatever you do, and if you’re serious enough about yourself to accomplish your goals and make your mark. And at the same time, please do me a favor and don’t forget the other very important things about life. Kindness. Kindness doesn’t cost a thing. Empathy. Money can’t help you with this. Forgiveness costs nothing. Love: you can’t buy it. They’ve written songs about that; you can’t. Passion is free. And laughter is something that you can hold onto and you never have to pay for it. I really do believe that if you lead with kindness, you have empathy for others, you have the ability to forgive others, and also, by the way, to forgive yourself at times. You keep love and passion in your heart, and you continue to laugh, life can be a wonderful ride. 

In the spirit of that, I’ll leave you with this quick little story. A friend of mine, a legendary filmmaker who recently passed away, unfortunately, he left me with this, I got a chance to work with him, he was directing this movie I was doing. We were on set, we were a bit behind in the day, we were losing the light, in my business we’re always chasing the light, you never have enough light, it’s like a . . . just, just always chasing the light. 

We had a ton of filming to do that particular day; everyone’s getting stressed out, myself included. People started getting short with one another and everyone was on edge and became sort of a not-so-fun environment. So here we were, we’re all living out our dreams, we’re making a movie, and it seemed like focusing on and stressing out about things that were totally and completely out of our control. Nobody was enjoying the process and nobody was enjoying the moment. His name is Charles, Charles turned to all of us and he said, very calmly. . . He reminded us there’s no use in getting mired in all this stress and anxiety and fear that can come your way that you cannot control. Or, maybe, perhaps, if I’m being honest, maybe we create for ourselves sometimes, even. 

When you feel like you’re getting lost in the weeds of life, you should pull focus on what’s really important. And what is that? Your loved ones, your health, the immutable things around you. It’s important to remember this is all supposed to be fun, guys. Even with the mug . . . it’s muggy, I know. It is muggy. But it’s supposed to be fun. 

So far we only get to live this life once. Right? 

That’s pretty much all I had, I just . . . I did have one favor to ask of you. Um. Because I’ve enjoyed my time here at Knox. My daughter Isabella is graduating, the same class of ‘26, she’s graduating next weekend. Yeah. And so this is very special to me. I was born here, I got asked to speak here, I’m beyond honored. And now—is it odd that I show up like this? [Gestures to robe and hood.] I mean, can I wear this to . . . Am I stealing her thunder if I wear this whole thing? Because she’s . . . do you think I should . . . should I do it? I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna wear it.  All right. 

Listen, everybody out there, lead with love, all right? Lead with love, have passion in your heart, and congratulations class of 2026. Job well done. Congratulations. 

Published on June 07, 2026