Harvard Commencement Speech 2008

Today, we watched a graduation speech that J.K. Rowling gave. Her speech was very inspiring. It was about how there are benefits of failure and about the importance of imagination. One of the quotes that she had said was, "Climbing out of poverty is something to have pride in." I think that this quote is very true. You may lose some of your pride when you go into poverty, but when you finally get out of it then you have accomplished something. By graduating you have accomplished a whole bunch, compared to people in other countries and the kids that didn't have an opportunity to graduate or even go to full schooling. When she hit rock bottom, she became the foundation of where she is today. If she didn't hit rock bottom, she probably wouldn't be where she is today. You, yourself, are the judge of what failure is. The next topic she spoke about was the importance of imagination. "Imagination is the power that enables us to emphasize with people," said Rowling. I think that with imagination you can do many great things. If you imagine something you are likely to reach for what you imagined. She also said that, "We have the power to change the world with our imagination." This is also very true. You can imagine a very positive thought and put that into reality, by doing what you imagined. She was an overall excellent speaker. She really knew how to capture the attention of the audience. I think that wherever you go in your life you are bound to be successful. You can go anywhere in your life. You are the judge of your failure and success. Anyone has the chance to succeed and to be who they want to be. It is important to do what you like in your life. You can succeed easily from your failures.