00:00Thank you, Will, for the very kind introduction.
00:04President Garber, Provost Manning,
00:08distinguished speakers, honored guests, and most
00:11importantly, fellow alumni.
00:20Good afternoon. I am incredibly
00:24humbled to be here with you all today on Earth.
00:30To see old friends, reminisce about the past,
00:34and ponder our future.
00:37I've had the privilege of wearing different uniforms in my 42 years.
00:42From war-torn battlefields, to emergency
00:46departments, to cockpits and spacecrafts.
00:49Through it all, I've made many mistakes and learned many lessons.
00:54But before I begin, I have a
00:57confession. I'm a bit of a procrastinator.
01:03I'm sorry, Mom, that never went away.
01:07I finally sat down to write this
01:09after watching Conan O'Brien's
01:11recent commencement speech.
01:16Perhaps to help me get over my
01:17procrastination, my lovely wife
01:19urged me to watch it together.
01:22And between the laughs, his message of humility
01:26and impact over accolades really resonated with me.
01:30Dang it, Conan.
01:32You're so funny and wise.
01:36But his message was for
01:38the college graduates.
01:41We are alumni.
01:43We've got it figured out, right?
01:47The truth is, I certainly
01:49do not.
01:50And I struggled with what I could
01:53possibly offer such a diverse
01:54and accomplished audience.
01:57Especially to our alumnus
01:59from the class of 1946,
02:01Mr. Duby.
02:09Sir, you should be up here.
02:11I want to hear what you have to say.
02:21From one sailor to another, go Navy
02:24and happy birthday.
02:30Just six months ago, I was wrapping up
02:33an eight-month mission aboard
02:35the International Space Station.
02:37The ISS is a triumph
02:39of human engineering.
02:41But perhaps more importantly,
02:43it's a triumph of international
02:45collaboration.
02:46Alliances across 15 countries
02:49have kept a sustained human presence
02:51in low Earth orbit
02:53for over 25 years.
02:55And this collaboration continues
02:57as we set our sights
02:59on the Moon and then Mars.
03:02Let's give a round of applause
03:04to the engineers, scientists,
03:07and administrators
03:08that have kept that beacon
03:09of collaboration alive.
03:20Orbiting our planet at 17,000 miles
03:22per hour, I witnessed
03:24our planet's raw majesty.
03:28Epic storms, volcanic eruptions,
03:32vast oceans and cities glowing
03:35like the constellation, all crowned
03:38by the vibrant auroras that paint
03:40the sky in colors beyond imagination.
03:44Yet through it all, I never saw
03:46distinct borders.
03:48I just saw a fragile, beautiful planet
03:50suspended in the darkness
03:52of our solar system.
03:54The overwhelming realization
03:56that everyone you have ever known
03:58and will ever love
04:01shares this same spaceship
04:03we call Earth.
04:05The overview fact is the coined term.
04:09Sometimes I'd look out
04:11from the space station cupola window
04:12and relax my focus on the mission
04:16and instead ground my focus right here
04:19with my beautiful wife
04:21and our amazing three children,
04:23knowing that beneath the clouds
04:25there were the very people
04:27that gave my life its gravity.
04:31But you don't have to go to space
04:32to understand the weight
04:34of our shared humanity.
04:37Long before I ever put on a space suit,
04:40it was here
04:41in the halls of the hospital
04:43wearing a white coat
04:44or as an operator in the SEAL teams
04:47that I learned the fundamental truth
04:49about service.
04:51True service
04:53isn't about the uniform you wear,
04:55the title you hold,
04:57the altitude you reach.
05:00It is simply about the person next to you.
05:05I am the son of immigrants
05:07who came to this great country
05:09to build a better life for their children.
05:23And while the fall of the Twin Towers during high school
05:26certainly called within me an action to serve,
05:28my calling to become a Navy SEAL
05:30was for embarrassingly simple reason.
05:34I wanted to be a superhero.
05:39A little tongue in cheek,
05:41but as a kid,
05:42I was infatuated with comic superheroes.
05:45I wanted to be like
05:46the incorruptible, self-reliant Batman
05:49fighting injustice.
05:52But in the extreme environments
05:54I've spent my life as an adult,
05:56I learned that the solo hero myth is dangerous.
06:01Whether you're relying on the Marine
06:03next to you in a firefight,
06:05the nurse during a code blue,
06:07or your crew mates in the vacuum of space.
06:13Survival demands absolute trust in others.
06:18True strength is found in recognizing
06:20you cannot do this alone.
06:33Being a Navy SEAL
06:34was one of the greatest honors of my life.
06:37And it gave me the tools
06:39to forge my own path
06:41and the chance to serve,
06:43albeit in the only way I knew how
06:44at the time.
06:47But the price was high.
06:48There was trauma,
06:50pain,
06:52and a darkness that enveloped me
06:54bearing my boyhood dreams
06:55of ever being a superhero for good.
07:00That brings me to the first lesson
07:01I'd like to share.
07:04Mistakes and tragedy
07:05can be the spark for new purpose.
07:09The battlefield is unforgiving.
07:12Decisions are made in split seconds
07:13with imperfect data.
07:16Operating with the information I had
07:18and with the absolute intention
07:21of protecting my unit,
07:24I made a decision that took a life.
07:29And I was wrong.
07:32And despite being cleared by an investigation
07:34that I operated within the rules of engagement,
07:38nothing will take away
07:40that my actions caused irreparable harm.
07:44I'm not the victim of this tragedy.
07:47I caused it.
07:51And it's a weight I rightfully deserve
07:53to carry for the rest of my life.
07:57Perhaps driven by guilt
07:59or a Sisyphean mission of atonement,
08:02I pivoted to medicine,
08:04hoping to uplift others,
08:06but I wasn't ready to heal anyone.
08:09In an effort to stay resilient,
08:11I had built layers of armor
08:13to protect myself,
08:15still trying to be that solo superhero.
08:17But you can't heal the vulnerable
08:19without being vulnerable yourself.
08:23The greatest gift this amazing institution,
08:26Harvard,
08:28has given me
08:29is not my medical education
08:31or the prestige that follows.
08:34It is that the people at Harvard
08:37helped to pull me out of the darkness
08:39and into the light
08:41and did it through something
08:43I had long considered a weakness.
08:46Empathy.
08:49To my classmates and professors
08:50who took time to understand
08:52how I got in the dark hole I was in
08:55and sometimes sit with me in it,
08:57thank you for being a part of my journey
09:00and for extending grace
09:01I may not have always deserved.
09:04This taught me my second lesson.
09:07Empathy and vulnerability
09:09are superpowers that can heal.
09:21True superpowers don't require us
09:24to put armor on.
09:26They require us to take our armor off.
09:30Remember the overview of fact
09:32I talked about earlier?
09:33Of how looking at our planet from space
09:35can give a macro view
09:37of our shared physical existence
09:39and that sense of unity it brings?
09:43Empathy is the micro view
09:46of that same phenomenon.
09:48And extending grace and understanding
09:51to others is how we recognize
09:53our shared emotional existence
09:56and begin to build human connection
09:59which leads to bridges.
10:02Learning this forced me
10:04to re-examine other virtues
10:06I thought I had understood.
10:07Like loyalty.
10:09In the SEAL teams,
10:11we use brotherhood as a metaphor
10:13of the unbreakable trust
10:15that every teammate
10:17will surrender their ego
10:18to prioritize the mission and team
10:22above their own lives.
10:25As a young SEAL,
10:27brotherhood meant absolute
10:29unconditional loyalty.
10:31Today, I realize that
10:34placing unconditional loyalty
10:35in humans,
10:36fallible by nature,
10:38is an impossible burden.
10:41Our unconditional allegiances
10:43are best reserved for our shared ideals,
10:47to moral and ethical values,
10:49to veritas,
10:52and if of faith,
10:53to God.
11:04Because whether we are navigating
11:06the vastness of space,
11:07setting our sights to the moon or Mars,
11:10or facing the uncertainties of tomorrow
11:13right here at home,
11:16it ultimately comes down to treating each other
11:18with respect and kindness.
11:21It is precisely during these times
11:24hard times that our character matters most.
11:36No matter what new technology comes our way,
11:40or how much AI takes over,
11:43there is one thing that it will never be able to replicate.
11:47Integrity.
11:49Humility.
11:51Trust.
11:54These aren't just lessons I want my own children to live and learn.
11:59These are lessons I am still actively trying to live out.
12:04They are our moral compass,
12:06our North Star.
12:09As I said, you don't need to wear a uniform,
12:12carry a gun into battle,
12:13save a life,
12:14or blast off into space
12:16to serve or understand our shared humanity.
12:20Service shows itself in the quiet, unseen acts of kindness and everyday grace.
12:27If you ask me today who my superhero is,
12:31I'd say my mom.
12:43She faced her hardships in life, business, and health with a courage, strength, and faith in God
12:50that rivals the toughest warriors I have ever known.
12:54Despite having many reasons to be cold to a world that was sometimes unkind to her,
13:00she remained compassionate,
13:02generous, and above all, morally courageous.
13:07I lost my mom to cancer about a month ago.
13:12And my whole life I've looked to fictional characters
13:18or out into the world for heroes to emulate
13:20when my biggest superhero was always right there by my side.
13:27Mom,
13:28I love you,
13:31and I wish I had told you that you were my superhero.
13:46To my fellow alumni,
13:55to my fellow alumni,
13:58I leave you with a call to action.
14:02Be the superhero you wish to become.
14:07When you walk through the Dexter Gate on your way out,
14:11look at the inscription from Charles Eliot.
14:15Depart to better serve thy country and thy kind.
14:22Always lead with your heart.
14:24Take off your armor.
14:26exercise empathy,
14:28especially towards people you disagree with.
14:33It is the only path by which we can coexist,
14:38leaving this fragile, beautiful spaceship we call Earth
14:42better than we found it.
14:46Whoo!
14:49Whoo!
14:51Mu-hoo!
14:51clo-ho-ho!
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