I could’ve taken my mother’s advice and I could’ve taken my grandparents advice. I could’ve taken the path my friends traveled. And I could’ve taken the words of wisdom from that old man in Pennsylvania. And，objectively speaking，I’m sure he was right. But I knew there was something in me that wanted to try for something bigger. So don’t let people talk you into doing the safe thing. Listen to what’s in you and decide what it is that you care so much about that you’re willing to take a chance.
My second piece of advice is to stay global. As the world continues to change and we become more connected to each other，globalization will bring both benefits and disruptions to our lives. But either way，it’s here，and it’s not going away.
We can try to build walls around us，and we can look inward，and we can respond by being frightened and angry about those disruptions.
But that’s not what we’re about. We are a confident country，not a fearful one. We can meet these challenges. And that means every single one of us needs to learn more so we can compete more. It means we need an energy policy that will create new jobs in this country and end our dependence on oil from the Middle East. And it means we need to update our social contract to make sure that people have health care and pensions and training no matter where they work or how many times they switch jobs.
But it doesn’t mean we should ever withdrawal. We are better than that.
My third piece of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy - to put yourself in other people’s shoes - to see the world from their eyes.
Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world - one that makes you understand that your obligations to others extend beyond people who look like you and act like you and live in your neighborhood.
I know that，especially on this campus，so many of you have been serving at homeless shelters and high schools and youth centers and job placement organizations all over the Boston area. And I hope this spirit of service lives on long after you leave here.
But as you continue on in life，it’s not always easy. In the years to come，you will encounter all kinds of obstacles in the way of empathy. You will find people who，out of fear or need for power，try to divide us and deny what we have in common. You’ll hear that the Americans who sleep in the streets and beg for food got there because they’re all lazy or weak of spirit. That the immigrants who risk their lives to cross a desert have nothing to contribute to this country and no desire to embrace our ideals. That the inner-city children who are trapped in the nation’s most dilapidated schools can’t learn and won’t learn and so we should just give up on them entirely. That the innocent people being slaughtered and expelled from their homes half a world away are somebody else’s problem to take care of.
You’ll hear all of this，and you’ll have to choose. You’ll have to decide where your obligations lie.
And let me tell you - the easiest thing in the world is to do nothing at all. To turn off the TV，put down the paper，and walk away from the stories about Iraq or Darfur or poverty or violence or joblessness or hopelessness. To go about your busy lives，wishing these problems away but expecting someone else to do it. To remain detached；to remain indifferent；to remain safe.
But I hope you don’t do what’s easy. I hope you do what’s hard.
I often imagine the young Americans - teenagers and college kids not much older than you - from all over the country，watching the Civil Rights Movement unfold before them on their television sets. I imagine that they would’ve seen the marchers and heard the speeches，but they also probably saw the dogs and the fire hoses，or the footage of innocent people being beaten within an inch of their lives，or maybe they would’ve heard the news the day those four little girls died when someone threw a bomb into their church.
Instinctively，they knew that it was safer and smarter to stay at home；to watch the movement from afar. But somewhere in their hearts，they also understood that these people in Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi were their brothers and sisters；that what was happening was wrong；and that they had an obligation to make it right. And so when the buses pulled up for a Freedom Ride down South，they got on. And they rode. Thousands of them. And they changed the world.
We need you to do the same. As Robert F. Kennedy once told a crowd of South Africans no older than you，“The world demands the qualities of youth；not a time of life but a state of mind，a temper of the will，a quality of the imagination，a predominance of courage over timidity，of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.”
Finally，my last piece of advice is to stay amazed - to remain in wonder at this unlikely place we call America. I think it’s easy for some people to look at all the challenges we face；to look at poverty and war and racism and inequality and hatred and helplessness，and to get down on this country as a result - to think that there’s something wrong with us - that there is little hope to make things better.
