commencement-addresses

Congratulations Graduates

Richard Lawson · 05/15/08 11:16AM

Graduation season means, among other things, commencement addresses that drunken, sleep-deprived kids will sleep through (apologies to Dr. Paul Farmer). But some are definitely worth listening to. Some speakers might want graduates to thank their parents for boffing, and others just want to be funny. The best commencement speech I've ever read is David Foster Wallace's Kenyon address in 2005. It was featured in The Best American Nonrequired Reading anthology the following year and is both funny and quietly profound. I often find myself saying "this is water, this is water" when feeling especially frustrated. Do you have any favorites? Let me know and I'll put a top 10 list together.