2009 commencement speakers inspire graduates
"Never give up" was the inspirational theme at many of the UC commencement ceremonies this graduation season.
The hottest commencement ceremony ticket was at UC Merced where first lady Michelle Obama delivered the keynote speech.
"You will find that there is rarely a clear and direct path to any of your visions," Obama told the graduates. "And you will find that you'll have to readjust again and again and again. And there may be times when you wonder whether it's all worth it. And there may be moments when you just want to quit."
When that happens, the first lady told the graduates to think back to their graduation day and remember all they are capable of accomplishing. Their accomplishments included a letter-writing and Facebook campaign to entice Obama to speak at the ceremony.
At UC Berkeley, former homeless single parent Chris Gardner delivered the keynote address. Now a successful entrepreneur, Gardner is the subject of the 2006 Will Smith movie The Pursuit of Happyness.
Gardner told the audience how he used to eat from San Francisco soup kitchens and sleep on the Berkeley campus with his 14-month old son.
"And to all the folks who said you couldn't do it, to all the folks who said you wouldn't make it, you are perfectly justified to say, 'How do you like me now?'" he told a cheering crowd.
More than 55,000 students earned UC degrees in 2009. UC has one of the highest graduation rates in the country. Eighty percent graduate in six years, the graduation measurement standard used by the U.S. Department of Education. At comparable public universities who are members of the Association of American Universities the six-year rate is 74 percent.