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Graduation Speech

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JON BON JOVI
MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY
Commencement Address
May 16, 2001 Good afternoon… and congratulations to the graduating class of 2001. President Stafford, faculty, alumni, parents, family and friends. I’m humbled and honored to have been asked to give this commencement speech on this, one of the most special days of your life (so far.) I’ve had to think hard over the last several weeks about what information I could offer you that you might find useful in the years to come. Though the book of my life isn’t yet finished at 39 years old, I am a few chapters ahead so maybe there are a few lessons I can share. Right now I’ll bet there are a multitude of emotions running through you - from sheer joy to trepidation, from anxiety to anticipation. Don’t worry -- that’s normal. And it’s something you’ve faced before. When you went from kindergarten to elementary school and then from junior high to high school to college… it’s all been a series of NEW BEGINNINGS. Now, some of you have chosen to continue on with higher education, and others are jumping out into the “real world.” But YOUR schooling isn’t over. Treat the workplace as another school and learn all the lessons you can from it. Don’t be afraid to start from the bottom. Be humble and stay humble. No job is beneath you if you use it as a lesson. I may have been very successful in my music career – but when I started a film career, I was just another actor looking for work. My fame wasn’t a help –in fact, it was a hindrance. No one in Hollywood encourages musicians to make the transition into acting. I had to audition just to get an acting coach! I took acting lessons but I wasn’t offered roles; I went to auditions. It wasn’t Hollywood calling (it wasn’t even Hoboken!) It took persistence and patience and years of waiting until I finally won my first movie role. Truth be told, on the

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