Each May, I anxiously anticipate what, for me, is a highlight and culminating event on our campus – commencement. This year was no different. If anything, this year’s celebratory ceremonies were heightened by the backdrop of a two-year pandemic. In other words, seems to me that we really needed a good ol’ “shouting of joy from the rooftops” kind of moment.

As usual, the challenge for me is what to say to these almost 12,000 special graduates and the estimated 100,000 family members, friends, and supporters that come to cheer them on. Should I remind them of how ridiculously amazing they are? Of course. Do I send them off with some thoughtful prose to inspire them? Maybe. But given what this exceptional cohort of Titans have endured over the past few years, I must admit that I was particularly anxious to hit the right tone and tenor – a tenor and tone to match the excitement surrounding their graduation.

So, I am sure you will be almost as surprised as I was to learn that what I finally centered on was “failing.” Yup – simple old failing. You know the one thing we all agree is something we would rather avoid – often at any cost. I know, I shook my head at first too; sounds like the exact opposite of an encouraging and uplifting commencement speech, but hear me out.

From where I sit, failing has, too often, been given a bad rap. Sure, it feels awful at the moment, but what is too often forgotten is that failure is not only a sign of effort, a signal of intentionality, it also offers us the opportunity to try again with more evidence and perspective and, in so doing, succeed. What am I trying to get across? Here is a story I shared this year during one of our commencement ceremonies. It is a modern-day parable about Albert Einstein. According to this story, Einstein, while teaching a math class, wrote several simple equations on the board:

· 1×9=9

· 2×9=18

· 3×9=27. And so on, and then he wrote….

· 9×9=90

And as he did so, the class fell out laughing. Students were in shock. Albert Einstein made a mistake! How could he make such a major error, they wondered?

As the students went on and on about the genius’ mistake, Einstein waited patiently, letting them have their fun. When the students finally settled down and returned their attention to Einstein, he said, “You have nine equations in front of you. Eight out of nine are correct. Yet all you seem able to focus on is the one that was wrong?”

How often do we only see the mistake in ourselves or someone else? We too often fall into the trap of completely missing the positives and only focusing on the error. However, as we all know too well, nothing in life is perfect – nobody is perfect. Not only that. The only way you won’t make a mistake, the only way you will avoid failure is by doing nothing.

So, give yourself a break, or give someone else grace if a mistake happens. We all need perspective and maybe a mental shift that reminds us, as the philosopher Voltaire once said, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good….”

Upon sharing this story with the students, I then continued by giving our newly minted Titan alumni this charge:

Don’t be afraid to reach outside your comfort zone.

Don’t be afraid to stumble or even fall.

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake or even to fail.

For it is through trial and error that change occurs, that difference is made, and that dreams are fulfilled.

My wish is for all our Titan students, for that matter all students, to not let the fear of failure dictate what is possible. Our world desperately needs this next generation to tackle tomorrow’s problems with all the perspective and wisdom we can offer them.

I closed my time with my graduates with these parting words and a final charge. To each of them, I challenged:

Your unpainted masterpiece waits to be created.

Your invention needs you, its designer, to bring it to fruition.

Your discovery has people waiting desperately for its cure.

Your script seeks the author to write the future.

Your voice demands to be amplified to defend the defenseless and protect the unprotected.

So, as you go forth as Titans, search for ways to serve others. If you have a platform for elevating others, share it. Become a mentor to a campus or community organization. Make the world a better place, one action at a time.

And that, my friends, is my commencement wish not just for my graduates, but for all of us. As our over 10,000 new Titan alumni go and make a difference in this region, we each need to keep an open perspective and work together for positive change. We each need to move toward action, and not be afraid to allow failure to guide and direct our path – rather than avoid it. Graduation is a time not only to celebrate, but for each of us to see our lives in a new fresh way.

So I challenge each of you – mentor, support, and inspire the next generation as they take on the world. I know they inspire me every day!

Thank you, Class of 2022!

Fram Virjee is Cal State Fullerton’s sixth president, taking the permanent seat after a 14-month interim role that began in January of 2018.

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