[ Music ]
>> Hi. I'm James Patterson
and you're the wonderful
class of 2020.
You know, I love this gown.
I love it.
The university expects
me to give it back,
but I think I'm going
to hold onto it
until the shelter-in-place
is over.
I know you were hoping that
we'd meet at Camp Randall.
Me too. I love Camp Randall.
But here I am in the
kitchen at Camp Patterson.
You know, the Patterson
family is going
through what you're
going through right now.
Our son, Jack, was supposed to
graduate from Brown next week.
Brown. Good school; not
much of a football team.
Here's what Jack and
I talk about a lot.
Worrying. Probably doesn't help.
Complaining doesn't help, plus
everybody hates complainers.
Watching CNN or Fox News all
day definitely doesn't help.
Hey, it's hard right now,
but it's been hard before.
When I graduated from college,
the war in Vietnam was raging.
There was a draft
and that sucked.
When my dad graduated,
he got shipped off
to Europe and World War II.
So, here we are at,
well, camp your house.
The job market is probably
going to be tricky.
I'd like to suggest
persistence and resilience.
Here's an example of
persistence and resilience.
Kind of a made up job interview.
Hi, I'm Jenny Smith.
I'm a recent Wisconsin graduate.
We're not hiring.
A week passes.
Hi, I'm Jenny Smith--
not hiring.
Another week goes by.
Hi, I'm still Jenny Smith.
Still not hiring.
The following week.
Hi, I'm-- oh, hi, Jenny
Smith, Wisconsin graduate.
This is your lucky day.
And your lucky day will come.
OK, I have to get
this off my chest.
I didn't go to Wisconsin.
My wife, Sue, did.
My wife's parents did.
All of Sue's aunts and uncles,
cousins, neighbors, friends,
enemies-- they all went.
They're all Badgers.
Before I married Sue, I had
to sign a Badger prenup.
I had no idea what
I was signing.
Since we've been married,
I've had to watch every
single Badger football game,
every Badger basketball game,
every Badger volleyball game,
swim meet, cross country
meet, table tennis match.
I've eaten over 50 different
flavors of Babcock ice cream.
We now eat brats
for Thanksgiving and
Christmas dinner.
I have a one breakfast free
for every 10 card at
Mickies Dairy Bar.
I really do.
Our only son was baptized Bucky.
I refuse to talk to anyone who
attended Michigan or even roots
for Michigan-- that
includes one of my sisters.
I tell stories for a living,
so let me tell you
a couple of stories.
This one is about achieving some
kind of balance in your life
and that's never
been more important.
Imagine life is as a game
in which you are juggling
five balls in the air.
You name the balls work, family,
health, friends, and spirit,
and somehow you're keeping
all those balls in the air.
Hopefully you come to understand
that work is a rubber ball.
If you drop it or if you
can't find a job right away,
that rubber ball
will bounce back.
But the other four balls--
family, health, friends,
and spirit-- are made of glass.
If you drop one of them, they
will be irrevocably scuffed,
marked, nicked, damaged,
or even shattered.
They will never be the same.
And once you understand
that, maybe, just maybe,
you strive for more
balance in your life.
That's the way it's
worked for me.
Tough breaks happen in life.
They just do.
They're happening to
all you guys right now.
When I was in my early
30s, I was in love
with a woman named
Jane Hall Blanchard.
One Saturday morning, Jane
and I went to breakfast.
Then we stopped at
the post office
on Broadway in New York City.
Jane suddenly fell to the floor.
We both thought she was dying.
We found out that Jane had
an inoperable brain tumor
and about a year to live.
Jane was 34.
I was 32. At that point, we
told one another a story.
It's a powerful story for anyone
facing the loss of a loved one.
The story, the point of view
that Jane and I took, was this.
We said to ourselves, isn't
it lucky that you didn't die
that day in the post
office and we have today
to take this beautiful walk or
go and look at the Hudson River
or go out with our best friends,
and that story made the next
year incredibly precious
for both of us.
All of us know that we're
dying, but suddenly Jane
and I really knew and
we really understood it
and we lived our
lives like that.
Live your lives like that.
Somebody wise-- probably
Gandhi--
said, live as if you were
going to die tomorrow;
learn as if you were
to live forever.
That's pretty cool.
So, you're probably going
to have some free
time on your hands.
You're Badgers.
Use the time wisely.
Read all those books you didn't
have time for in college.
Think things through.
I know you've thought
a lot about this,
but here's what finding the
right career is all about.
Two steps.
Step one: What are you
really passionate about?
Step two: What are
you pretty good at?
If those two steps don't work,
then get a damn job
like the rest of us.
OK. Here's the good news
and this is very good news.
You have all received a
superior education here.
Not in my kitchen.
At Wisconsin.
There's never been a
better time to make use
of everything you
learned in school.
You are prepared for this.
You're ready.
You are the best and
you are the brightest.
Go, you beautiful Badgers.
Go Badgers!
On Wisconsin!
Love you! And remember this--
no one will ever forget
the class of 2020.
