Abdul El-Sayed — 2007: Abdul El-Sayed delivers commencement address at the University of Michigan

Like any true Michigan man, I'm always eager to spread the good word about Michigan. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to serve on a panel for high school students who wanted to learn more about the college experience here. As I prepared my spiel on how you have a better chance to get into med or law school from Michigan, on how this university is easily the best in the Midwest. On how Ann Arbor restaurants, trump all others. And last but not least, if all else fails. How BTV is open till 4 a.m.? I got to thinking about my experiences here. What I really wanted to communicate was why I love Michigan. Now, why do I love Michigan? I came to one prominent conclusion. Seven month winters. I wanted to put a finger on what this university means to me. I mean, Michigan is the only real college experience. I and most of you have ever had. Think with me now. What would college have been without packing into these seats? on crisp Saturday afternoons to watch our boys in blue, just obliterate whoever it was who wasn't lucky enough to be wearing a winged helmet. What would it be to walk between classes and not to your upper level biology professor jamming it up on a harmonica? What would it be without the fishball? Actually, I can answer that one. You probably wouldn't have wasted a sum total of about 30 hours of your life, just looking for a computer. And then, I thought about the real reason, a student comes to a place of higher learning like this one. Thursday nights. But education is a process of transformation. And I realized I love Michigan, because the person who's leaving here today is better than the one who came, and I know that extends to you, my fellow graduates as well. So back to my story. I gave my spiel that day, and all was well and good, until one kid, sitting in the back, he raised his hand, and he asked, bro, what's this Michigan difference? They keep talking about in the commercials. For lack of anything better, I said, well, classes and commencements at Michigan, start 10 minutes later. That must have appeased him, because he'll be here in the fall. But besides great advertising, Ploy. What really is the Michigan difference? It was back to deep thought for me. Is it the sum total of knowledge that you and I might have gained in lectures, labs, or discussions? Is it the fact that we're now more qualified? For X, Y, or Z job, or that we've passed step one on our way to becoming doctors or lawyers? Is it the fact that I can now add 2 more letters to my name, which, by the way, are BS? Obviously, none of these are the Michigan difference. And no, the Michigan difference isn't in the classes or the papers we've written or the test that we've sat through. It's not the faculty, the administration, the facilities, or even Ann Arbor. Excuse me. The Michigan difference is us. The students. It's in the diversity of names, faces stories and experiences with which we decorate this great place. It's in the time that we spent in self-assessment, self-improvement and thought. It's the questions that we've asked. And those that we've answered. It's the care we've shown, the people we've helped, and the passion that we have that defines us. Moreover, It's the fact that we're about to go out into a world that absolutely needs us. It needs to hear our story spoken loudly. to consider our opinions and to engage us in discussion. It needs us to ask you questions. To answer when it beckons. To show that we care. and to give it mercy, compassion, and love. It needs us to help those less fortunate. But most of all, it needs us to spread that contagious Michigan passion that has come to define us. It's that we have the audacity to believe, that we can change this world. that each of us will. That my fellow graduates, University of Michigan, class of 2007 is the Michigan Difference. And I'm humbled to have been a part of it, with you. Go blue