Graduation Speach

Thank you, Dr. Gray, for your most gracious welcome. I am honored and pleased to have been asked to speak to you on this grand occasion and in these familiar surroundings. The Boston area boasts of several excellent institutions of higher learning. But there is only one MIT.
Mr. President, Trustees, ladies and gentlemen: Let us congratulate the best, the brightest, the most dedicated, the most thoughtful, and the most likely to succeed MIT class ever--the class of 1997!
But, graduates, you know better than anyone that you did not do it alone. Accordingly, please join me in a big round of applause for those who have stood by you throughout the years and who are with you today, in person or in spirit, your loving parents and dear friends. Let's give them a hand.
Now you are free. Free of the pressure of exams. Free to begin the next stage of your life. And free to pay back your student loans. I wish you well.
I once sat where you sit today. Sharing these joyous moments with you toda...