Embracing Unpredictability

Jon Stewart's celebrity graduation speech, given at the College of William and Mary, is a humorous and insightful exploration of the world of academia and what exists outside of that world.

The speaker uses humorous anecdotes to compare the post-secondary way of life to what graduates can expect to encounter when they enter "the real world." He explains that the future is in the hands of the graduates and that despite the economic and political turmoil that the world has experienced, they have the power to do monumental things in the future.

This celebrity graduation speech differs from many others in that the speaker pointedly admits that college is not necessarily the defining moment in one's life. Stewart tells the graduating class that doing well in college does not define one's future potential and once one accepts that the future is not predictive, they will find it to be far less ominous.