President Lawrence, Chairman Hill, the Board of Trustees, the faculty and staff of Sarah Lawrence College
 I'm honored and humbled to be among you today
to participate in this important occasion
to the graduating class of 2012, I say congratulations!
 To the friends, family, brothers, and sisters and most importantly, the parents
I also offer my heartfelt congratulations. Well done everyone.
You must me very proud. My mom is right over there she is very proud of me right now
I have to admit I found the process of writing this commencement address a bit daunting.
I'm hoping to string together a
few thoughts about what awaits you all in the wider world
 when the real and unassailable truth is that nobody knows anything
and real advice is worth what you paid for it. (Well, clearly you've paid for this advice, or someone did...)
Then I came across a rhetorical flourish that I really liked
I thought would juxtapose the moment in time when you were coming into the world, with my being formed by it.
so I began looking up movies and books that came out around that time
that were really important to me and to the culture around me
Movies like the Blade Runner, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire strikes Back  
writers like Stephen King ,Harlan Ellison  Kurt Vonnegut, 
hen I realized that while I was thinking about the year 1980, when I was 13 and growing up a few miles away in North Tarrytown
and you all weren't born until in 1990 
Then I felt old and couldn't write anything for a few days.
I started to imagine about what
I, a college dropout, might have to say to a large gathering of the opposite
why I was invited to be here
I mean, I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up
This is the first question adults love to ask kids isn't it?: "What do you want to be when you grow up?
It's a lot of pressure to specialize so early.
Of course Sarah Lawrence is famous as a Liberal Arts college. Both in name and in politics.
But I think that there's actually a better term for the educational philosophy here
a foundational education
A foundation. A broad base
platform from which to launch an idea, a building, a movement, a way of thinking, a generational shift.
As a generalist and a Jack-of-all-trades, I agree completely with this paradigm
The broadness of my interests gives me an excellent perspective to do what I do, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I actually spent an inordinate amount of time in my 20's thinking that I was too UNspecialized
too old to make a splash as a young man. To be an enfant, t'errible.
I decried and derided all of the skills I'd serially picked up:
billiards, juggling, unicycling, acting, sculpture.
None og this helped me meet girls
never got excellent at any of them. Just good enough
What a waste of time, I thought.
But I got over that.
How? Well two things happened: One: I learned that my incessant skill-gathering gave me a distinct and unexpected benefit
The benefit of context.
When you're an expert in one thing, your lens on the world is often limited to that of your field
This is, of course, illuminating in important ways, but it can also be restricting.
When solving a problem as a generalist (or to use a more arcane term: a polymath)
I can compare the many fields I've dabbled in,their techniques, their philosophies,the ways in which they alter the lens
through which I see things, and I can gain a literal perspective on the problem that I am solving
This turned out to be the exact reason for my success in film special effects, and eventually on MythBusters.
Steve Martin in his autobiography Born Standing Up has a fantastic quote ,
where he recounts being told at the beginning of his career: "you will eventually use everything you've ever learned." 
This is entirely true.
The other thing that happened to me is that I learned how to work hard
Like bust my ass hard
there's few things that get you over your own crap more than working really really  hard.
t's not complicated. All you have to do is listen
Listen to what you' ve been asked to do
Listen to what's going on around you
Learn how the project you're working on fits into the big picture. Learn how you fit in. Pay attention.
Learn how you fit in. Pay attention
When you genuinely understand how the big picture works
you start being able to anticipate changes adapt your behavior, or output
You do this and you will simply do your job better,
and you'll make the job of everyone around you easier.
This is actually my one regret:
that I didn't know until I was in my mid 20s how to truly bust my but. 
People who are smart and work hard
are, in fact, so hard to find that they stick out like sore thumbs. 
Be one og them
What else can I tell you?
What else can I tell you? Well I 've got a few things
ou will, at some point, probably move back in with your parents
Sorry, but it's true, it's cool, and it's only temporary.
But go easy on them They don't know what to do with themselves now that you're gone  
but that doesn't mean they want you back forever 
Try and save some money while you're there.
Be kind Be kind to everyone
I can't stress this enough. I actually say it every chance I get
Kindness will pay back inestimable dividends
I'll wager that at some point you'll have the opportunity to work for someone who used to be your assistant,
or hire someone who used to be your boss
Both have happened to me. 
Don't work for fools
It's not worth it.
Getting paid less to work for people you like and believe in
is so much better for you (and your career) in the long run.
Stay obsessed
That thing you can't stop thinking about? Keep indulging it.
Obsession is the better part of success.
You will be great at the things that you can't not do.
Be willing to be wrong.
Don't fight for your idea just because you want the credit.
Fight for your idea because it's the right one
If it's not, let it go and put your muscle behind the right one. 
Trust your instincts.
Take yourself with a grain of salt.
Think about yourself at 17, just five some-odd years ago
Think about what you thought college would be like,
and what you expected yourself to be like.
Now look at yourself.
I'm going to hazard a guess and say that things totally didn't turn out like you expected.
This process will repeat itself ad nauseum throughout your entire life.
the sooner you realize it this the better will be for all of you and for all of us
We are never finished products, we are all works in progress.
Finally:The friends around you now?
These people that saw you and fell in with you while you were still molten
being forged in the crucible of emancipation.
These are some of the most intimate relationships that you will ever have
Because nobody knows you like the people who knew you right now
I'm sorry to tell you that you will hurt people that you love
and you will help people you detest. 
This is called being human, and it happens to everyone
whether you like it or not. Nobody escapes.
Finally, Finally Finally I wrote finally twice 
I was editing apparently not well enough on a red eye only 4 hours ago
Finally, remember that you have plenty of time.
F. Scott Fitzgeral the writer of The Great Gatsby one of our national treasures
A true giant of litery world
The silliest thing he ever wrote is the quote
There are no second acts in American lives." This is insane
If there's one thing that typifies the American experience it is that reinvention and rebirth are intrinsic to it.
Raymond Chandler didn't write a single word of any consequence until his 40s.
Julia Child learned to cook at 40! 
Clint Eastwood directed his first film at 41
Don't be afraid to be a late bloomer. Repeatedly.
Remember that you have time to figure out what you want to do
Who you need to be. Where you want to go.
You have time to fail
You have time to mess up
You have time to try again 
nd when you mess that up, you still have time
You have time to try again 
nd when you mess that up, you still have time
Just so long as you're willing to work hard.
Congratulations on successfully completing Act 1 of your lives 
There'll be a brief intermission and some party, and  you'll get started on Act 2.
Thank you very much!
