The Steve Jobs Commencement Speech During 2005

The Steve Jobs commencement speech was a speech that the then Apple Inc. CEO gave at Stanford University during the 114th commencement on 12th June 2005. He gave the address to the students, terming them, “…graduates from one of the finest universities in the world.” The address focused mainly on his personal life and success in what he termed 3 stories from his life. The speech was divided into three main parts where Jobs focuses on different stints in his life. In the “first story”, Jobs talked about how he dropped out of college and why this happened.

He explained that he dropped out of Reed College within 6 months of joining and went ahead to show up once in a while for the next 18 months before quitting completely. He starts by telling the graduates about how his young biological mother had decided to put him up for adoption to college graduates only. The story also entailed how after birth the lawyer and his wife refused to adopt jobs because he was a boy hence; the next parents on the waiting list were called. Her mother had refused to sign adoption papers on realizing that the would-be parents were not graduates.

By introducing his first story from his early life, jobs wanted to attract the attention of the students and make them understand that the course of his life did not start when he became a CEO but when he was born. He goes ahead to tell the students on why he dropped out of college and how he survived during that time. Jobs explained that he had dropped out of college after 6 months because he had did not find it worthy that his parents would pay their life savings for his education yet he had no idea what to do in his life. He further gives an account of how he survived on the 5 cents he got from returning coke bottles and how he slept on the floor in his friends’ room. In this part of the speech, Jobs tries to convince the students that life was never easy at the beginning and that dropping out of college was a good idea considering he had no idea what he wanted to do in life.

Jobs brings in the concept of following intuition and curiosity and how important it had turned out in his future. He gives the example of his interest in calligraphy and how he went to calligraphy classes because he loved them. The fact that these skills turned out to be important a decade later when they were making the Macintosh computer demonstrates how Jobs believed in intuition. This example demonstrates to the graduating students how important it is to believe in oneself. He asserts this when he tells them that they have to trust in something, be it their destiny, gut, karma or life because this approach had worked for him.

In his second story, Jobs talks about loss and love. He explains how he started Apple in his parents’ garage and how he meets a beautiful woman who would then become his wife. In a turn of events, he tells of how he gets fired from Apple and how bad it feels. His main point is to explain why it is important to handle losses in a positive way. Jobs had not given up after getting fired because he loved what he did. So he started NeXT and Pixar. These companies would then merge with Apple in future and He would marry and have a good family. The point behind this story is to make the graduating students understand that doing what they love is the best thing they can do. His passion for innovation made him to move on from his loss and start a new company. In the end, his love for technology makes him reunite with Apple and become successful. He wants the students to look for what they love doing and pursue it.

He wants them to be determined to be successful. In his third story, Jobs talks about the importance of having goals in life. He refers to a quote that he came across when he was 17 and has kept it in mind ever since. He explains the importance of knowing what your objectives is and how it helps one achieve their goals. He gives his story of how he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and how the doctors had removed the cancer cells from his pancreas. He simply wants his audience to be guided by a purpose in life and go about their business knowing that their time on earth is limited. He signs off by telling the students about the magazine he read during the 1970s and how it had inspired him. Generally, Jobs uses the three stories to give important life lessons to the graduating students based on his life. In the first story, he urges them to trust or believe in something in their life. The second story focuses on identifying and doing what they love and how to handle losses. Lastly, he talks about the importance of having a purpose in life and to spend their time wisely because life is short.