Navy SEAL's Commencement Speech Urges to 'Find Someone to Help You Paddle'

Need a little jolt of inspiration on this abridged week? Look no further than commencement speeches. As we started researching empowering speeches, one of the most compelling ones we discovered wasn't from the mouth of a media mogul. Rather, it was from the heart of a Navy SEAL. William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy admiral and alumni from the University of Texas — Austin gave 10 lessons to graduating seniors from basic SEAL training. We should point out he organized the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. This commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command emphasized the importance of making your bed every morning and finding "someone to help you paddle." Here is an excerpt, courtesy of Military Times: "If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle. Over a few weeks of difficult training my SEAL class which started with 150 men was down to just 35. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of the little guys -- the munchkin crew we called them -- no one was over about 5-foot five. The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish America, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the mid-west. They out paddled, out-ran, and out swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the Nation and the world, always had the last laugh -- swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us. SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status." If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers."

Fishbowl

Navy SEAL's Commencement Speech Urges to 'Find Someone to Help You Paddle'

Vicki Salemi

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Vicki Salemi