Wen Chang - Keynote Speaker
May 23, 2009
Event co-chairs Christine Cheung and Stephanie Schneider, Dean Hayes, Dr. Sim, distinguished staff and faculty, proud and relieved parents, and of course, outstanding graduates:
Sitting with seven faculties in their PhD gowns and caps, I felt naked sitting among the seven beautifully dressed people.
On this joyous day of new beginning, I want to congratulate all of you to be able to graduate from one of the best hospitality and tourism management educational system in the U.S. From your email to me I know of your intelligence, discipline and enthusiasm that makes you ready to face the world.
You have traveled a long journey like marathon; with only meters away from the finishing line. Thank you for having me to be part of your final moment in college. I also want to congratulate you to have learned and grown up in San Francisco Bay area where is the center of St. Andreas Fault earth quake zone, an area that created some special geological psychology – that influenced young people who long time exposed to it – with anxiety: feeling insecure; dissatisfied with the status quo, sublimation, creativity and tend to overachieve. Let me repeat: dissatisfied with the status quo, sublimation, creativity and tend to overachieve. In your DNA, 48% is from the environment which includes your school education and this geological DNA. Proud parents, don’t worry, you still have majority of 52% DNA of your children who have grown up today.
Like Ritz Carlton having all their employees to put the credo in their pocket in which their slogan read like this “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”. I want you to put in your pocket these four steps of decision making or problem solving that is simple and powerful. If tonight you don’t want to have any chance to have your beautiful dress been stained by ink-pen, you can email me your questions later on. Because it is very powerful, please make the best use of it.
Here are four steps:
1) Status - where am I now?
2) Alternatives – where am I going? List three to five alternatives.
3) Evaluation – put a T-table to have pros and cons on each side of each alternative, both objective information and intuition are considered; however, as the evaluation goes deeper, your intuition will gradually take over.
4) Now decision time. Select and act on best alternative.
In making decision, or to enhance the meaning of your life, please consider or embrace the following:
1) To be a dreamer of dreams. Do what you love and passionate about. Listen to your heart. That means respect your intuition.
2) Share, but not separate, your story with American story. Because America is more than just a country. It is an idea.
3) Evolving from IQ – Intelligent Quotient, EQ – Emotional or empathetic Quotient to SQ, spiritual quotient, the newly defined ultimate intelligence of humankind in late 20 century in which compassion and oneness with nature is the key character. When we go to see the Phantom of Opera, outside Curran Theater there is a man with one leg sitting on the floor with his dog; there is a little tray containing some nachos or, another scenario a senior lady with some of her teeth off, and her grey hair sticking out like wire, standing at the corner of University Avenue off ramp in Berkeley begging for money. Can we walk by them in peace? No! Thanks God, “The concept of compassion has resurfaced from a long hibernation.” “For who is able, from those whom much is given, much is expected.”
4) Whatever you decide, there will always have cynics and doubters, one Hawaii Hilton owner, who is not a green hotel owner, tried to define for me that the green hotel means there will be a lot of brown patches on your hotel lawns. When Einstein mentioned to his friend Max Planck, who is later a Nobel Laureate, that he has some splendid ideas. What Einstein meant on these splendid ideas is embryonic form of general theory of relativity. Planck rejected him and discouraged him: “Firstly, you will not succeed; secondly, even if you will succeed, nobody will believe in you.” Einstein did succeed, because Max Planck did not see what Einstein had seen. And I did create a green hotel with landscaping without using chemical; saving 40% of water, there is no brown patch, and it is beautiful. Remember, only you know best about yourself.
5) The job or partners you select shall allow you to have at least three - four hours to be totally alone per week. That space of time will nurture your creativity and give you a sense of being. If that space of time affords you to walk on the beach at slow speed or in forest, to listen the whispering of leaves or chorus of summer cicada, to do birds watching and to see butterflies migration; that might be at risk of making you a poet, so be it. Because the harmonious left brain and right brain wholeness will allow you to look at things in wide angle lens, and a bigger picture.
Last advice:
1) In your everyday life, there are always little defining moment, listen and observe. Even if you encountered evocation of doing just a little good, to yourself or to others, don’t shy away. It will create butterfly effect. The tiny ripple of hope could become ocean wave. Write diary everyday to validate that defining moment, even if you only have two minutes to do so.
2) Live enthusiastically. Enthusiasm in ancient Greek word means “God in us” that reminds me what Mark Twain wants you to live this way, always.
- Work like you don’t need money
- Fall in love like you never been hurt
- Dance like nobody is watching
- Live like it’s heaven on earth.
The modern physicist enlightened us that the whole universal phenomenon is included in the meaning of theses two words “event” and “process”. Today’s beautiful event will fall into the process immediately. During the process, you are going to have some moments of uncertainty; frustration or even hitting the stumbling block. But comparing with the additional asset you have, those moments are nothing, because you can yell loudly to the world with certainty “I am glorious, because I am young!”
2009 graduates, what a privilege you have, this is your moment on stage. Enjoy the process. Congratulations!