Steve Jobs tells three distinct stories in his commencement speech; “Connecting the Dots,” “Love and Loss,” and “Death.” Each has its own message for the grads to take away, as well as at least one powerful and well-worded quote that really stands out to me. In the first story, “Connecting the Dots,” Steve begins by talking about dropping out of college. College was not the right for him at the time since he had no idea what he wanted to do and limited funds, so it seemed like a waste. I’ve questioned so, SO many times whether this was the case for me. Even now, in my final year, I still don’t really know what I want to do as a career and I’m still not sure this degree will be worth all the time and debt.
As a typography nerd, I really loved Steve’s story of his “dropping in” on a calligraphy class inspiring future type fonts. (I first thought of Apple Chancery when he said this, and of course had to look up the designer. Her name is Kris Holmes and she was taught by the same calligraphy teachers as Steve.) At the time that Steve was taking calligraphy classes, they seemed to be of no practical use for him. It was only after he began working on computers that he recognized the connection. He describes this here: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” I’ve had an interesting experience of connecting dots, which will show up in my thesis. I took ASL in community college because of my hearing impaired friend, and since entering IMM, I’ve realized how little media is accessible to deaf people. When I signed up for ASL, I had never even thought about the fact that deaf people are so shut out from media that could (and should) be made more accessible to them.
The second story, “Love and Loss,” is largely about failure. When Steve was removed from Apple, he so easily could’ve just given up on his dream. Instead, he had a very inspiring take on this: “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again.” He was freed from pressure and able to create whatever he wanted, and make a new name for himself. Failure can be so hard to accept and grow from sometimes, but it is absolutely necessary.
The last story was called “Death.” Steve talks about his diagnosis and believing he’d die soon, how that affected how he lived his life, and how fears fade in the face of death. I liked his daily routine of asking himself whether he would be content doing what he planned to do today if today were to be his last, and it’s a great thing to do even if you don’t have reason to believe you’re going to die very soon. I’m worried that I won’t have a job that will be fulfilling and impactful enough for me to answer “yes” every day. I would not be very happy with a job that does not positively affect the world in some way, and I couldn’t say “yes” to this question unless I know that my work is beneficial. The quotes in this story that stood out to me are “Death is the destination we all share” and “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” The former, while obviously true, seemed a bit dark for a commencement speech. The latter is more inspiring and light, and a good reminder to younger people. Being a young adult with no life-threatening health issues, it can feel like I have all the time in the world, while any of my elderly family members will tell you that the years passed by so fast. “Live every day like it’s your last” sounds so cheesy and overused, but Steve found a way to put that cliché into more powerful words.
(Stacie Evans)