Katie Couric Commencement Speech - American University 2014

0:06 wow you can call me dror Katie now everyone president Kerwin Dean rutenbeck Administration and faculty parents friends and most of all the class of 2014 look at you thank you so much for having me today it's such an honor to play this small part in your very big and exciting day I know it's all about commencement but for me it's a little bit like

0:37 homcoming being here because I grew up right across the bridge in Arlington and as some of you know or may not know my dad John kurick earned his Masters in Communications from Au and later came back to teach both journalism and PR he loved learning here and teach teaching here and he'd be thrilled that I was receiving this honorary doctorate from his alma mater he'd be worst bursting with pride and I so wish he

1:09 could be with us but my dad passed away almost three years ago and I miss him every day he was my Guiding Light my inspiration someone of great intelligence and integrity meanwhile though I'm so lucky that my mom is here today and I don't know where she's sitting Mom where are you hi so so let's hear it for the parents let's thank them for their support in every sense of the

1:45 word so all you graduates commencement is just the beginning but it's also the end of your time here at AU and I know you're going to miss so much about this place professors who not only teach you what you want to learn but also help you figure out where you're going because they've been there PR portfolio with Professor Kumar writing for communication with Professor Lawrence producing environmental and Wildlife films with Professor Palmer just to name a few having the city of Washington DC

2:17 is your classroom your laboratory your playground and coming home to a campus where political activism is as natural as breathing coffee at the DB and margaritas at guapos but maybe not in that order mac and cheese at TDR steak and eggs at steak and egg and from what Jeff just said it sounds like many of you are leaving with already having jobs in hand so

2:47 accomplished so prepared but some of you are leaving s so with your future still TBD so how do you find your way well for every single one of you the journey will be uniquely your own but today I thought I'd try to offer some practical advice some rules for this long and winding road trip called life just think of me as your personal GPS or maybe your Siri by the way did you know that you can

3:15 curse at Siri and she actually takes it really well I do this at times for fun anyway I digress getting back to life advice I reached out to you all to to ask you to help me help you yes that is right I crowdsource my speech i period am period so period hip period let's start with Melissa Stoner who asked me to talk about traditional and New Media and where our professions are

3:46 going which is an excellent question Melissa where are you Melissa by the way hi Melissa that's a great question and it's one that everyone is trying to figure out in my own career I feel like I've had to Reb boot myself repeatedly and re reboot is a word we didn't even know existed when I was 22 in fact two years after most of you were born in 1994 Bryant Gumble and I were on the Today's Show asking each other about this new

4:14 thing called the internet many of you might have seen that embarrassing footage online by the way the transformation of our society has been nothing short of astonishing you're entering the professional world at a time of breathtaking change and uncertainty but I am very excited about the future and I think you should be too when everything is in flux opportunities abound for those of you in film and media arts your generation will face fewer Gatekeepers the other day Ron

4:45 Howard told me yes name drop alert that his industry more than ever before is a meritocracy there are so many outlets so many new ways to Showcase your work you don't need to fight to get a foot in the door because nowadays the door is a screen on the top of your desk or a 5x2 inch rectangle in the palm of your hand likewise for you in public and strategic Communications you can be disruptors and influencers the playing field for

5:15 advocacy and Outreach is broader than ever you have so many ways to get your message out and to engage a community and thanks to the internet and social media your community is now the whole world a Facebook page can spark a move movement a meme can become a mascot a viral video can make us laugh cry or bear witness to Injustice a hashtag can change a vote or unite the world in Outrage over kidnapped girls in

5:45 Nigeria and what about journalism it's true that many outlets have struggled cut back or close shop but in just the past year Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post because he still sees value in a long-standing and respected media institution meanwhile fueled by energy creativity and possibility there are scores of people out there trying to create the new news institutions of Tomorrow who would have thought that organizations with names like Mashable

6:16 BuzzFeed Vox and vice would be redefining redefining the traditional Newsroom and I never have guessed even a few years ago that I would be the global anchor at Yahoo who to think it we're in the midst of Reinventing and reimagining how journalism is being created and delivered news Gathering has changed now anyone with a cell phone can capture a critical moment production values have changed what was once considered a mishmash of unpolished images is right

6:48 at home online delivery and Distribution Systems have changed and multiplied we can see things whenever and wherever we want but when it comes to content as the old saying goes the more things change the more they stay the same all the delivery systems in the world are worth nothing if they have nothing to deliver quality content still matters so does storytelling so do trusted sources accuracy still counts context and

7:21 perspective are needed all very old media ideals but how do we keep those ideals alive in this Brave New World how can we dig deep and hold people's attention how can we engage and Elevate when we're competing with grumpy c videos and bikini clad celebrities how do we keep from abdicating our responsibility to help Enlighten illuminate Expose and hold accountable so we maintain the informed electorate so essential to our democracy as the

7:51 founder of my alma moer Thomas Jefferson said whenever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government that whenever ever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice they may be relied on to set them right I must confess I worry I worry about the critical issues of the day that they're being ignored in a changing and increasingly competitive media landscape I worry that quality will continue to be sacrificed for ratings

8:21 and clicks but when I see your faces when I look at you faces that will be populating the business I love in the years to come I have faith when I hear about the work you're already doing it restores my faith I am counting on all of you to aim high as content providers and content consumers I'm hopeful the great content you supply will always be in demand because all of you will demand

8:53 it but no matter where you land it won't be easy going from being the bmoc to the lmot TTP low man on the totem po I remember like it was yesterday driving down MacArthur Boulevard in my white non-air conditioned Toyota Corolla after a long day as a desk assistant at ABC News where my main job responsibilities included getting Frank Reynolds his lunch and thinking for this I spent four years in college it may take some

9:26 adjustment this paying your do stuff but a solid work ethic a lot of initiative and a positive attitude will serve you well I love something Queen R of Jordan once said which was if you're too big for a small job you're too small for a big one be the one who does small jobs gladly volunteers to work on weekends and goes the extra mile believe me you will get noticed another student Isabella Diaz asked where are you

9:58 Isabella hi what is the biggest discouragement you've ever faced and how did you overcome it well Isabella how much time do you have my first on camera experience was here in Washington at CNN which at the time was an upstart operation my network colleagues dismissively called chicken noodle news It Was 1980 I'd been in the job for just a few months and in television barely a year but because CNN was a non-union shop it was a place

10:29 where everyone could do everything so one day the bureau chief of the Washington Bureau decided to give me a shot he said I'd like to give you a chance to report from the White House I was up all night standing in front of my mirror speaking slowly and deliberately into my hairbrush it was very Mara Brady early the next morning I was ready to go I put my earpiece in and I overheard the anchors talking who is that girl one

10:56 said to the other she looks like she's about 16 years old just as the commercial break was about to end I was up my voice squeaked like a chipmunk I struggle to pronounce the big new binski which believe me is still not easy I was awful the president of CNN called the assignment editor and instructed him to never allow me on the air again I was embarrassed and humiliated I actually thought about packing it in pursuing

11:26 something altogether different and then I said to myself in Stu in true Stuart SMY fashion you're good enough you're smart enough and dog gone at people like you and I decided to channel my disappointment into getting better so I went to work in local news first in Miami and later back here at WRC right down the street putting in the hours mastering the nuts and bolts and learning from every mistake I made I got more comfortable I got more confident I

11:55 got better that's what happens when you put in the time and what whatever profession you choose I've never heard anyone say this better than Sully sullenberger I interviewed him a few months after he miraculously landed that US airplane on the Hudson River saving all 155 people on board for 42 years he told me I've been making small regular deposits in this Bank of experience and on January 15th the balance was

12:26 sufficient so that I could make a sudden large large withdrawal it's unlikely any of us will ever have to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River but there will be critical moments in your career when you'll be tested and like Sully you better be ready those endless hours and local news covering fires and snowstorms prepared me for the moment the late Tim russer who later became my dear friend and Mentor offered me a job as a deputy

12:55 Pentagon correspondent for NBC back in 198 89 two years later I was co-anchor of The Today Show where I spent 15 remarkable years covering some of the biggest news stories of that era the Clarence Thomas hearings the OJ Simpson trial the Oklahoma City bombing 911 the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia the Gulf War the death of Diana Hurricane Katrina and eight Olympic Games what an extraordinary ride the

13:26 places I went and the people I met but but I was ready for a change and the opportunity to be the first female solo anchor of an evening newscast was hard to turn down so I joined CBS in 2006 with the marching orders to loosen up the broadcast make it more modern and accessible and less self-important in my first few months critics complained about my clothes my hair my makeup my delivery even the way I held my hands on the anchor desk some

13:56 claimed I lacked gravitas I've decided that is Latin for testicles it was it was tough but a friend reminded me a boat is always safe in the harbor but that's not what boats are built for I focused on the news and not the noise and by the time I left CBS 5 years later I looked back on it with

14:29 real Pride from the surge in Iraq to the earthquake in Haiti to the G Gulf oil spill I was on the front lines of the biggest stories I help viewers understand the revolution in terer square and get to know Sarah Palin don't mention it I have faced setbacks disappointments and I'm sorry to say so

14:59 will all of you you may take some wrong turns and lose your way but you will get back on track doing what that annoying lady on your GPS does that's right by recalculating you will not turn back you will ask for directions if necessary and you will reach your destination meanwhile many of you here today like meline Feldman Dina Levitz and Philip scranage asked hi you three how do you balance work and family can

15:32 women have it all can men have it all can anybody have it all can we please stop asking this moronic question as glorious dyam said recently nobody can have it all because nobody can do it all let's be honest juggling demanding jobs and kids can be challenging but plenty of people do it and do it really well I spent 10 years after I graduated happily single I wanted to be foot loose and fancy free and able to to move from

15:59 Market to Market and home my reporting skills I dated guys that subconsciously knew were not marriage material ultimately I did find someone I loved and I married at 32 had my first daughter at 34 when my career was in full swing as proof that you just can't plan everything my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer and Jay died at 42 it was devastating dating but I felt

16:30 so fortunate to be financially secure and supporting my daughters was the least of my worries work life balance doesn't mean a constant state of serene equilibrium for me at least it's required periodic reassessments of how and where I'm spending my time and a recognition that when things are out of balance I can figure out ways to write the ship and I honestly think my girls have been become strong and independent young women because I wasn't constantly

17:02 hovering over their every move they saw me out in the world making my mark and now they want to do the same in their own unique ways it seems to have worked for us but there's no single blueprint no one siiz fits-all for how to live your life do what's best and what works for you only you know when to lean in lean out or lie down and take a nap when Cheryl Samberg tells women in particular

17:30 don't leave before you leave she means don't let your future fears about The Balancing Act keep you from going Full Throttle right now look for work you really love and give it everything you've got and have confidence that you will figure it out a final question from Santos REO about my most memorable interview where are you hi in some way Santa that's like asking someone to name their favorite child

18:02 I've had so many Unforgettable encounters colen pal Katherine heurn Howard Stern Yasser Arafat Hugh Jackman hello Hugh Miss Piggy who incidentally got mad at me when I suggested she meet my good friend Jimmy Dean there have been presidents Prime Ministers captains of industry Pulitzer prize-winning authors some pretty handsome movie stars but it's not those who land on the covers of magazines who have impressed me the most they are

18:33 people like Sam Burns Sam had Progeria a disease that gave him the appearance of being a 90-year-old man when he was just a little boy but that didn't stop Sam burns from living life to the fullest he joined the marching band at at his high school made tons of friends and won every academic prize there was his parents both Physicians ultimately discovered a that causes the disease and in the process helps so many children

19:03 just like Sam they are remarkable people Sam died in January at the age of 17 and I'll never forget him people like Michael scholes and Craig Scott of Littleton Colorado Michael lost his son and Craig lost his sister during the massacre at Coline high school but on a snowy April morning United in grief I watched them find each other other people like Irving fratkin an optometrist from Fall River Massachusetts who started collecting a

19:35 dollar from every single person so all the kids in his town could go to college that small Grassroots effort became scholarship America and for the the last 50 years plus it's given more than 1.8 million students 2.7 billion in scholarships but by far I think the most gratifying work I've done has come from using this

20:07 platform I've been privileged to have to make a difference my onair colonoscopy following Jay's death made me the butt of more than a few jokes but it also reduced the incidence of colon cancer in men and women 50 and over by 30% in the last 10 years my role in creating standup to cancer cancer which has raised more than $280

20:39 million for cancer research and has changed the Paradigm by mandating collaboration not competition among scientists and their respective institutions tackling childhood obesity and Shining a light on the role the food industry and government have played in this heartbreaking epidemic that has left the the current generation of children with the tragic Legacy of living shorter lifespans than their parents in a documentary called fed up which opens this weekend by the way I

21:10 hope you guys will go and see it but you know you don't have to be a network news anchor to have an impact in a time when we've lost so much faith in our institutions to get anything done you can more than ever before be the change you wish to see in the world and that is not some cheesy quote on Pinterest people that is Gandhi you can Galvanize a whole chorus of like-minded individuals to start a movement fight

21:37 for social justice pressure governments to act and attitudes to change the familiar quote by Anthropologist Margaret me has been imbued with fresh relevance never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world indeed it's the only thing that ever has and that is so exciting please don't you lose your youthful idealism I know at 57 I'm still holding on to mine for dear life but think

22:10 locally not just globally simple acts of kindness are important too be the one who helps that friend in need checks on an elderly neighbor walks over and talks to that person standing alone at a party sticks up for the boy being bullied imagine how much better the world would be be if we all went out of our way to show just a little compassion if we looked beyond our selfies and simply made it a priority to be kind it may in

22:40 fact reverberate in ways you never expected madavi ready who's graduating today madavi where are you hi madavi grew up in Charlottesville Virginia when she was just 8 years old she and her friends set up a neighborhood library for all the local kids to visit visit and check out books well their little Library ended up on the local news and madavi and her friends each received a letter from their state senator maavi described the letter as wonderful and

23:11 personalized it made such an impact on her that she remembers it to this day well that state senator was my sister Emily kurick Emily cared deeply about education and loved Public Service she died of pancreatic cancer when she was 54 but she touched so many lives including maavi with that one simple gesture madavi told me whenever she's home and drives past the Emily C

23:41 clinical Cancer Center she feels proud to have been recognized by such a kind and caring person and who knows how many children maavi herself inspired and enriched with her makeshift neighborhood Library changing the world doesn't happen all at once it isn't a big bang it's the sum of a billion tiny Sparks and some of those Sparks will have to come from all of you your generation has more to give than you know and the world

24:13 cannot wait to receive it so get out there and show us all how wonderful you are make a spark burn bright and light the way congratulations w