
Photo: Whitehouse.gov -- President Obama delivered the commencement address at Barnard College in New York City May 14, 2012
President Barack Obama shared some of his experience and advice with the graduates at Barnard College, a women’s liberal arts college, in New York City earlier this week during a commencement ceremony. Barnard is affiliated with Columbia University, the president’s alma mater.
President Obama:
“My last piece of advice — this is simple, but perhaps most important: Persevere. Persevere. Nothing worthwhile is easy. No one of achievement has avoided failure — sometimes catastrophic failures. But they keep at it. They learn from mistakes. They don’t quit.
You know, when I first arrived on this campus, it was with little money, fewer options. But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was vague how in fact I’d go about it. (Laughter.) But I wanted to do my part to do my part to shape a better world.”
The full text of the president’s speech on the whitehouse.gov website.