should not lose this it was about -- gregory saying that a movie had been made about martin luther king, which is which made him a real hero. he said to me. jesus was real. okay, here we go. all right. but we don't really we can't really prove it. right? we can prove martin luther king was real because we were here. i mean, i met him and we have him on film. we have him on tape. no. what happens, no matter how many hundreds of years from now, no one's going to be able to deny that martin luther king was real. but i would argue that if we go too far in him into a mythological figure, you lose sight of how real he was and. -- gregory knew it. people from atlanta who are still with us today, who knew him could feel his reality. and we just need to keep him alive in that way.

right? very good. thank youi stand here today as d michigan alumnus, but also as an even prouder parent of one of the graduates. and when i told my son jonas that i would be today's graduation speaker, his reaction was probably the same as many of

yours. and this is a direct quote. what my son actually said you not tom brady. there's so many people they can pick. and he goes on, it's like a 13th seed winning march madness is so first. thank you to the people who believe in the 13th seed president. you know, and the regents, including mark bernstein, my michigan classmate and friend, distinguished faculty guests and staff, special love to all the families and friends, including my own who came here to celebrate the reason we are all here today. the class. of 2024. from the start, it hasn't been easy for you. you were born just before or in

the aftermath of 911. all of us worrying about the world that lay ahead of you. 19 years later, covid hit taking millions of lives and turning your first year here. upside down. it didn't stop you for so many this is your first proper graduation since middle school. you know how long we've all been waiting for this day. we all have passed versions of ourselves, all of us here, including me. at 22 years old, i was graduating from michigan. i remember sitting right there. i'll never forget that it was the year that football star desmond howard won the heisman trophy and speech amidst speech, the graduation speaker called desmond howard's name and he

stood up and in full cap and gown. did the heisman pose. i remember thinking, i love being part of michigan and seeing that excel. and from one of my classmates. and as i look at the journey, 22 year old me up there to 54 year old me standing here, it defies a logic. there are many things that science and math can explain when someone offers you a breath mint, take it. learn the uber drivers name. if you're nice to me and a jerk to the waiter, you're a jerk. but some things are unexplainable. they're just magic. as a writer, that's my job. making things appear out of thin air. so that's what i'd like to discuss today. how to make magic. of course, that sounds absurd. real magic doesn't exist. but when you ask professional

magicians, they'll tell you they're actually four types of magic tricks. that's it. put aside illusions and escapes. there's just four types of tricks. one, you make something appear to you, make something disappear. three, you take two things and switch places. and number four, you change one thing into something else. so the first way for you to make magic, you make something appear, and what you need to make appear is you. i'm not talking about showing up, but making the best version of you appear. we're all chameleons. we act one way with our parents, another way with our friends. but as the writer tim urban explains, underneath all those outer use is an inner you. that's who you really are. down deep. the ultimate version of you, the one where you feel the most confident and secure, where you're fully present and focused. that version only comes out with

people you're comfortable with and you appreciate the real you and love you for it. when i graduated michigan, my first job was in boston with a boss who said he'd be my mentor, and i was so excited. but the week i got to boston, my boss left the job. i thought my life was ruined so that night in some rundown sports bar, i told my girlfriend, i know what i'm going to do with this year when all of us, all of us would do in a moment where we think our lives are ruined. i said, i'm going to write a novel. and my girlfriend had the best reaction of all. she didn't laugh. she told me, go book, go write that novel. she believed in that version of me, that girlfriend gave me lift when i finally wrote that book, i got 24 rejection letters. there were only 20 publishers at the time, and i got 24 rejection

letters that mean some people were writing me twice to make sure i got the points. but i said, if they don't like that book, i'll write another. and if they don't like that book, i'll write another. i realized i want it to be a novelist and my girlfriend. she didn't laugh at that either. that next book did get published. i owe her forever for that lift she gave me. why do you think i married her? she's here in the stadium. the mother of my graduate. and can we hear it for every strong mother, father? grand parents, whoever it is who helped raise you, whether they're here today or not, when it's here for them in the big house. something happens. when i got that unconditional support. professor jane dutton calls it a reflected best self portrait. when someone you trust sees your potential and they believe you

can be that person, it opens up a path and inspires you to become that version yourself. that's why the friends you're sitting next to right now matter. you hold tight to them. their love and trust are key ingredients because when you leave here, your mission is to make the best version of you appear and then watch surprise yourself, build something that can't be ignored will be the ones cheering which leads to the second way to make magic. you make something disappear and it's tempting to say that you should make fear disappear. but let me challenge that. in high school i had a job scooping ice cream at the haagen-dazs in the oven all. and one day this woman came up and she started snapping her at me. you need to serve me, she barked. i said, mama, be right with you. and now she says. and we go back and forth. and eventually i say to her, you know what, ma'am? you're being rude. i'm not serving you.

you better serve me. she'll. and when i refused, she screamed in my face. you're going to be working in this miserable ice cream store for the rest of your miserable life. and i can't. she told her, ma'am, if i am working here for the rest of my miserable life, you're still never getting any ice cream. and for decades i used to tell that story laughing, saying it never even bothered me. but i need to admit here it did bother me. it terrified me. my dad struggled financially his whole life and it made me feel like my life would be filled with that same financial struggle. but i now also realize that fear, that fear this woman brought out of me. if you told me it drove me. it's the same thing. our football team did this year. how do you think michigan versus everybody worked that feeling when we lost our coach, everyone

telling us we were done and finished. god, did it feel good to fight back, to beat penn state, beat ohio state for the third time, go to the rose bowl right, go to the rose bowl and come on. you know what's coming? winning the national championship. your senior year. so, yes, make your fear disappear here, but not because fear is bad. use your fear to harness it. let them underestimate you in the end, don't vanquish your critics. prove them wrong. which leads me to the third way to make magic. you make two things change places with each other. and here, let's talk about empathy. that's what empathy is. switching places with someone else and putting yourself in their shoes. when i was 13 years old, my dad

lost his job. he barely had any savings and we had no place to live. so my parents moved us from brooklyn, new york, to miami, florida, where my grandparents lived. so we could stay with them until we got back on our feet. and four months, six of us, my mom dad, sister, myself, plus two grandparents, lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment. and since it was florida, all the condo commandos complained that we couldn't have that many people in such a small space. and then one day, the neighbor across the hall told my grandmother that she'd leave her own apartment and give it to my grandparents. so we could use it. so my family could have some space and comfort and not have to worry about those who wanted to evict us. i remember her name as mercy, which is a kid i always heard

as. make no mistake, mercy and empathy is what she showed us today. cruelty and venom, harshly judging those we disagree with. it's become sport in our culture, but cruelty and venom on proof of strength. there are signs of weakness and petty insecurity. what takes strength is switching places and putting yourself in someone else's shoes. and not easy, right? it's not easy. in fact, studies show studies show that when we too much bad news, our brains overwhelmed. that's why we change the we swipe to a new app and shut down. do not shut down. we need. if you shut down, we're in trouble. today in the stands, there are families experienced in divorce and financial. some of your fellow are fighting cancer. two are getting posthumous

degrees today since they passed away and many have buried parents and grandparents during their time in. michigan. every family in this stadium has someone who they wish could be here today. i wish my parents alive to see my kids today, to see that we're. as you go through life, every person you encounter is battling something you can't see. the solution. switching places and feeling empathy as the saying goes. one day someone is going to hug you so tight that all of your broken pieces will fit back together. the world needs more empathy, more humility, and certainly more decency. if you really want to shock the world unleash your kindness. that's a completely naive idea. but it's an idea worth fighting for.

now, we talked about the magic of making something appear. making something disappear and making two things switch places. which leaves us with the final way to make magic. changing one thing into something else. the hardest trick of all transformation. who you are today isn't the person you'll be in the future. graduation may feel like finale, but it's not an endpoint. so let me just say it never stops changing. when i was little, my favorite in the amusement park was the of mirrors. some people love watching little kids crash into the glass. i loved because i had hair back then and it was glorious. but what i really loved about the hall of mirrors was how you could turn your head just slightly and all those versions of you would appear all. the possibilities as we get older, it's human nature to see just one version to get locked.

ways of thinking about the world. about your life path. about who you are. but as friend recently told me, when you write things in stone, everything becomes hard and brittle and starts collecting dust as you leave michigan in pencil and be unafraid to use the eraser. the person thinks they're the smartest in the room. i promise you, is not the in the room. that's just the one with the most fragile ego, the most sophisticated and, intelligent people i know are the ones willing to challenge their thinking and admit there's more to learn. life will absolutely not be what you think it will be. it will be hard and wonderful and messy and rewarding. with more versions of you than you think possible. the only immutable fact is you should never be immutable. keep transform in learning and never think you know it all. instead, see in the hall of mirrors endless possibilities.

now you know the four ways to make magic. you make the best version of you appear. make fear disappear and harness it. switch places to find empathy. and never stop transforming. so let me reveal the step. what all four tricks have in common? they take effort. they take you things just appear or disappear themselves. making magic. figuring out who you are. takes work time and intentionality. as writers, simon sinek, remind me. that's how magic is. full commitment to the bit or an awful was a part. so many people so many people sacrifice get you here today but that love is not left in the stadium. wherever you go, the best part is michigan never leaves you. we even have our own abracadabra magic word. you'll see. you'll be in an airport and your

spot that block him on someone and you'll whisper without even thinking the magic words go below. and that person, that person will nod and you'll instantly be transported back to this place like magic. and you will make plans and come with your friends, all of you wearing your own black m's, opening shirts to show them off like superman's big red s, and then maybe one day you'll come back proudly to watch your child like we're watching all of you the unstoppable class of 2024 become michigan graduates. and that's the best trick of all. you're graduating the university of. you already won. that's it. you won. like. i said, like i said, are past versions of all of us.

and the only thing i know for sure is if that past version of you could see you. now, they would look at you in. as for that past version of me, i see myself at 22 sitting in my own cap and gown watching desmond howard do his pose as the graduates. and it reminds me the magic is never for yourself. it's gift you give other people, and that's the real reveal. in our time together, i use magic as metaphor, but real magic, the most powerful magic that comes from making memories. memories that endure or like cherish. memories. so power that even though they happened years ago, you can feel them now. see them now conjured out of thin air. that's the thing about time and memory. they're slippery. which is why the best magicians always have a final trick up their sleeve. sometimes is hiding right in

front you the entire time. class of 2024. ladies and gentlemen, please. my friend jasmin howard. here's the thing, though. here's the thing. if you want to be the best magician, you got to top your last trick. class of 2024. it's your turn now. welcome. your national champions, blake corbin. jj mccarthy.

treasure treasure your memories here. and don't ever forget the only people who see magic are the ones who look for it. lala, theo, you know how much i love being your dad. class of 2024. show him what you got. make magic. go blue blue.