I
was the Student Commencement Speaker to the Class of 2011 at IIT Stuart School
of Business, Chicago. There were over 800+ people in the
audience and it certainly did not help my case! I had auditioned for this
amazing opportunity competing against few others and what won the judges over
was the humor and passion in my speech, delivered in an alien accent. The
speech was given on May
14th 2011.
I am very thankful to the following people for their advice, comments, and above all, their patience in helping me improve my speech content. To be frank, the delivered speech was an exponential improvement compared to my first draft! So the people are: Abhishek Rai & Manisha Verma (Brother & Sister-in-Law), Gary Behrens (Toastmasters Group), Kent Bevel, Siddhesh Barot, Mrityunjay Sharma, Mike Stritch (Office Group), Huilan Jin, Adam Cebulski, Dana Bouche, (College Group/Staff), and of course...my parents! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student
Commencement Speech – Madhuresh ‘Maddy’ Rai
Class of
2011
IIT Stuart School
of Business
Thank you Dean Kahalas.
That introduction is surely going on my
Facebook!
Good Afternoon Mr. Sandor, Board of
Trustees, Professors, staff members, emotional guests, non-emotional guests,
and above all, the Graduating Class of 2011!
Congratulations!!
I am honored to be given this
chance today.
My time at IIT Stuart has been
‘transformational’.
See, when I joined Stuart in the Fall of
2008, I was prepared for the technical challenges…but the cultural shift
surprised me. I can still remember how apprehensive I was during
my first few months here. In fact, on my first day in the US,
there were 3 things (using fingers for counting) I just could not
understand – Every, Single, Word.
I always thought I knew English well…
until I met…Americans. I learned when they smile at you and nod
their heads
I spent hours on the phone talking to people who just could
not refuse me. Thank you Chase and AT&T customer
support!!!
Our shared experiences have made us
different from the people we were when we came to Stuart.
We have learned from each other just
as much as we have learned from our professors.
I have always believed we are the mini-ambassadors of the countries and cultures we represent. I cannot tell you how many times people have approached me to talk about Slumdog Millionaire or their admiration for the Kamasutra.
Through some of you, I have come to enjoy
Chinese cuisine. I can today sing karaoke to a few Korean songs,
and I now know enough Spanish to get in trouble!
Friends, life outside is
going to be tough. There will be no take home tests, no
rough drafts, no U-pass <show U-pass>, no student discounts, and
worst of all… no free pizza!
We have to start afresh and find our new
mentors again. Yes, we all are unique…just like a million
other graduates this year! So we have to have to find our
niche, and excel in the careers we choose. And, I have
absolutely no doubt in your ability to adapt and keep growing for the
years to come.
If you ever get bogged down by new
challenges… just remember this one thing from my speech… If you have a
desire, your limitations won’t stop you. In fact, they’ll
push you harder to improve upon your strengths. And trust
me, you’ll find people around willing to help you…just like I
did.
I would also like to request you to take
some time today and thank your parents or loved ones who have come
here to support you on this special day.
My parents could not join
me today but they are celebrating some 7,562 miles away in this direction
<point in East direction!>
I will always cherish my time here and I
will never forget how funny you all look right now in these Harry-Potter
gowns !!! <open your arms to show the falling
dress>.
I truly believe that Stuart’s education
has made us a strategically competitive <make it funningly-sarcastic &
look at Dean!> to go out and start new chapters of our lives.
There will be failures along the way, but
just remember: Neither success not failure is ever Final!
Good luck with your journeys and
congratulations once again.
Thank you.
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Monday, September 5, 2011
2011 IIT Stuart Commencement Speech
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