Wesley Chan
Field: business
Wesley Chan of Wong Fu Productions, a Sixth College alumnus, addresses the UCSD class of 2012 as a peer rather than an authority. He encourages graduates not to stress about having a fixed plan, emphasizing adaptability, continued learning, and resourcefulness, drawing on his own unplanned path building Wong Fu Productions. He closes by urging graduates to live to make something and assures them their proudest moments are still ahead.
Key moments
- 01 Opening jokes about not being Conan and being a proud UCSD Triton
- 02 Advising graduates that it's okay to feel lost and not have everything planned
- 03 Sharing his own story of building Wong Fu Productions through adaptation and resourcefulness
- 04 Encouraging graduates to 'live to make something' rather than just make a living
Save the visual map
Download or open the generated poster as a standalone PNG.
Wesley Chan at UC San Diego, 2012
A Sixth College address about adaptability, creativity, resourcefulness, and living to make something.
Speech arc
- 01UC San Diego
Opening move
- 02Sixth College
Speech beat
- 03Triton pride
Speech beat
- 04No fixed plan
Speech beat
- 05Adaptability
Speech beat
- 06Wong Fu Productions
Speech beat
- 07Creative work
Speech beat
- 08Live to make something
Final charge
Belonging: A peer speaks from inside the class story
Chan talks as a Sixth College alumnus and creative peer, using humor to make uncertainty feel normal rather than shameful.
Voice
The address avoids distant authority and speaks in a familiar, student-shaped register.
Place
Sixth College and UCSD details make the advice local.
Humor
Jokes lower the pressure before the speech turns practical.
Chan talks as a Sixth College alumnus and creative peer, using humor to make uncertainty feel normal rather than shameful.
Uncertainty: It is okay not to have the whole plan
The speech reassures graduates that feeling lost after commencement is common and survivable.
Permission
Not knowing the next step does not mean a person lacks potential.
Motion
The charge is to keep learning and moving instead of freezing.
Trust
Graduates are asked to measure themselves by growth, not instant certainty.
The speech reassures graduates that feeling lost after commencement is common and survivable.
Adapt: Resourcefulness turns changes into material
Chan uses his creative path to show how adaptation, collaboration, and small projects can become a life of making.
Create
Making videos becomes a model for learning by doing.
Team
Creative work is built with friends, tools, feedback, and persistence.
Shift
Unexpected changes become openings when graduates adapt.
Chan uses his creative path to show how adaptation, collaboration, and small projects can become a life of making.
• Key takeaways •
Uncertainty is normal
Connects to adaptability.
Adapt when plans change
Connects to creativity.
Use what you have
Connects to uncertainty.
Create with others
Connects to perseverance.
Live to make something
Connects to self-belief.
Proudest moments are ahead
A core idea carried through the address.
Closing charge
The final charge asks graduates to live to make something and believe their proudest moments are still ahead.
Do not only make a living
Purpose
Work should create, not merely sustain.
Future
The address pushes pride forward rather than leaving it at commencement.
Charge
Make something with the life that starts now.
The final charge asks graduates to live to make something and believe their proudest moments are still ahead.
Visual speech maps
Browse more visual maps from University of California, San Diego or continue with related mapped speeches below.
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording
Explore this speech
Find the next thread through the archive
Themes in this address
Speeches like this one
Search all speeches ->