I was honored to be the commencement speaker for GCC’s Class of 2025. You can watch the speech here. I have also included the transcript below.
Greetings, Scholars.
I’m very honored to be here, be part of this special day with you and your friends, your family, and the Genesee Community College community.
Thank you.
This is my very first time delivering a commencement address. I can’t promise it won’t get weird. It might.
Okay, it’s definitely going to…You’ll know when we get there.
My hope is you’ll hear at least one or two things you can tuck under your tassels and take with you.
Here we go.
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This is a day to celebrate, exhale, relax and enjoy.
I’m going to say that again…but I’m going to ask you to help and add some sound effects.
Just so you know: this isn’t the weird part yet. Just something I want to try for fun.
When I say “Celebrate” (Can I get a “Woo”?) Celebrate: WOO!
When I say Exhale (Can I get an “ahhhh!”) Exhale: AHHH!
When I say Relax and Enjoy. (Could I get a “Whee!”) Relax & Enjoy: WHEE!
This is great. Let’s try It altogether.
Celebrate (Woo!) Exhale (Ahhh!) Relax and Enjoy! (Whee!)
We did it. Thank you!
Now. — Remember those words, really take them in — here’s why — These few moments we have together may be some of the last moments you have to celebrate, exhale, relax or enjoy before someone asks:
“So, what’s next for you?”
<<react>> **UGH.**
People… love this question… especially after you do something major —
“Now what?” They’ll chirp.
And it’s not bad. They mean well.
Too often, we don’t take nearly the time we should to:
— Pause.
— Celebrate where we are
— Appreciate how far we’ve come
— Really reflect on what it took to get us here and… maybe most importantly — consider how we feel about it.
There is often pressure to do more, to do better, know for sure what’s next.
I have been there.
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I struggled for years with the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I never had any idea — and I felt really embarrassed about that.
My background is in television news and, more recently, quitting television news.
I tried it on for size as a summer intern in college. When a producer quit after I graduated, the station offered me her job and I took it.
The news environment is a bit harsh and unforgiving, a bit unusual. I liked it, though, and I liked the people who could be equally…harsh, unforgiving and unusual. I liked telling stories. I really liked telling uplifting stories and making people laugh.
But news, is a pretty serious and traditional business. Few see any real value in… good news. For a lot of years I was serious at work, made my own fun making YouTube videos on the side and spent a lot of time wondering what I could be when I grew up.
Then, I met the general manager of the news station that would eventually hire me to create my own kind of news show. He’d seen the fun things I created and he loved it.
“I have a lot of people who can do news,” he said, “I don’t have anybody who can do what you can do.”
I was thrilled and a little stunned.
That opportunity forced me to pause, look at where I was, reflect on where I had been and I realized something — My whole career I had been creating things that didn’t exist before — segments, shows, specials, web series, my YouTube channel.
I never stopped to think about it or appreciate it. I was always worrying about what I didn’t have, what I needed to do, what I should be doing, what everybody else was doing.
This didn’t go away with the new show. It was closer to what I thought I might want to do, but I was still trying to fit in, trying to blend in with everyone else. I was filling my cup with the expectations of other people, of my industry, of society — and — feeling pretty good about it, honestly…for a while.
I mean… It was working for me!
But over time, looking into that same cup, I hadn’t left room to even think about what I really wanted.
It came to a point where — despite being considered successful — I felt stuck and frustrated. I didn’t know what to do. By that time, I had already dedicated more than 20 years of my life to this path. What could I do?
Then, in the summer of 2020 on a “stupid walk for my stupid mental health,” I heard a quote on a podcast that stuck with me.
Speaking about the struggle to find purpose and direction, author Michael Beckwith offered this: “think about walking in the direction of potential — pulled by joy.”
I started thinking differently about where I was, the path so far, what I really liked doing and what might be possible.
***
I’m going to say something I know makes people a little nervous, which is one of the reasons why I love saying it because I am a bit mischievous….and…. I think anyone can benefit from hearing it:
In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty easy to create an existence that looks good on paper — good grades, great internships, advanced degrees, decent jobs, respectable salaries, prestigious awards…and on and on…
— BUT —
How does it all feel… in here?
Where is your heart in all of it?
When it comes to answering that question, I highly recommend consulting “your inner weirdo.”
You know what I’m talking about, right? That little voice inside that makes you…”you”.. and sometimes — maybe a lot of times — makes you feel like you have no idea what you are doing.
I know you know.
I will tell you — I tried to mute mine for a long time — but she is — incredibly persistent.
The little weirdo— in all of us — can be a great guide. It is filled with very unique magic — that is all yours. It is the best of you. Trust it. It will carry you and I know because mine has carried and continues to carry and sometimes push …me.
Whether you realize it or not, your “inner weirdo” … got you here. It has already helped you carve your unique place in this world and it will continue to help you build what will be your life and, eventually, your legacy.
Trust it.
It took a long time but I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up and I discovered it is what I have been all along at heart: an artist. I love to tell stories, I love to write and draw and make videos and make people laugh.
To my great surprise: yes, that counts as a real job. People will hire you to do things you love.
It’s very important to note: I have a lot to be grateful for, this college included.
***
If you go to the Genesee Community College website — under Academics and click on the Library tab, you’ll find an area dedicated to the college archives. There’s a section on the right hand side of the page labeled “Sample Photos” with a photo at the top labeled “GCC Groundbreaking.” Taken on September 26, 1969, it features four smiling men holding one ceremonial shovel.
One of them is my dad. His name was Harry Welshofer and he was a professor here throughout my childhood and into my college years when he retired. He taught history and philosophy.
My dad attended graduation every year. He loved it. He loved to be here for the students, loved to dig out his official academic “costume” as he affectionately called it and he loved to walk around the house singing “Pomp and Circumstance” — (🎶) — Only he added his own lyrics.
This may be the first time this has been performed publicly:
(Ahem) “My reindeer flies sideways…”
Believe it or not we’re still not to the weird part of this speech.
My dad was a character and he had a great love for this place and for its students and for the connections forged here.
He saw education not as a means to an end but as opportunity and lifelong fuel for curiosity.
His approach to teaching encouraged students to go beyond the coursework and just be curious about history, about life, about humans, civilizations and the long thread that ties it all together.
He encouraged his students (and his three daughters) to not be afraid to approach life with a sense of whimsy and wonder and to realize how much the world opens up when you just ask questions and aren’t afraid to ask for help.
This is what I grew up with. He was always asking questions — always — and when I tell you… he was so…. embarrassing.
As a teenager I was forever pleading under my breath…. “Daaaaaduh.”
The older I got, though, the more I appreciated how much he cared, how much he invested in people and in learning, in new ideas and new things, and… in mischief.
Famously, in a GCC course catalog, a curious degree showed up in my dad’s bio. There was the bachelors degree, his masters degree, followed by three mysterious letters — SFB. I remember him bringing the catalog home to share with me.
We were standing at our dining room table when he said, “I have to show you something,” I knew he was up to something. He opened the book, laid it flat on the table and pointed to the letters — SFB — I tried to work it out on my own but couldn’t. I finally gave up.
I said…“Okay, what does that mean?”
And he grinned and proudly declared — “Harry Welshofer; SFB — Short. Fat & Bald.”
We both dissolved into laughter. My mother hollered from the next room:
“Oh you didn’t!”
He absolutely did.
Deep down, my dad had a strong sense and belief in what mattered. He believed you didn’t have to take everything so seriously to be taken seriously, to make an impact or succeed.
He showed me a little levity can go a long way.
I couldn’t help but laugh when he got extra credit — at his own funeral.
In the crowd of those who came to pay their respects, were many faces I didn’t recognize. They would later introduce themselves as former students — some of them 30-plus years — out of school.
They were all eager to share how much he meant to them.
“I still have a book your dad gave me.”
“Because of your dad I continued my education.”
“He was so interesting, I would forget to take notes.”
“I never enjoyed failing a class more.” — that was a favorite.
But he was more than his profession —“I still grill my steaks the way your dad told me,”
“He taught me about sailing.”
“He taught me to make martinis.”
Quite a few recalled how he would begin his classes by saying “Greetings, Scholars” and send them off for holidays with ….”relax and enjoy.”
For as much as we worry about what happens next, it is not nearly as important as what we do right now, in the smallest of moments; how we show up, how we engage with and encourage those in our daily lives.
The things that make us…. “us” … those are the things that matter, the things that resonate long after we are gone.
Now comes the weird part.
I want to invite you to give yourselves a little hug, little squeeze. I know it’s a little weird… but…it’s okay. We’ve come this far.
Close your eyes. And just listen to me for these last few moments.
If no one has ever told you this before: you are the most wonderful miracle to anyone who has or will have the great pleasure of knowing you.
Cherish this moment and all it took to get you here — knowing that you are and always have been in good hands — yours.
Trust yourselves. Trust your instincts. Trust that your joy, if you let it, will pull you in the direction of your very greatest potential.
Whatever you do — don’t let the “what ifs” steal the infinite joy to be found in “what already is.”
One more thing: Congratulations, Class of 2025.
Celebrate. Exhale — Relax and Enjoy.
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