‘Be Open, Be Impatient, Be Hopeful’’: Sundar Pichai

Even though the novel pandemic has been affecting millions of people, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sparked an air of immense optimism, that was specially targeted towards the young graduates that are bidding a final goodbye to their colleges. The Google CEO addressed students worldwide through a virtual graduation ceremony that was hosted by YouTube. It was here that he urged the students to be ‘hopeful’. In the video, Pichai also highlighted being optimistic leads to success eventually. Other attendees of the virtual conference included former US President Barack Obama and former US First Lady Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, South Korean band BTS, Malala Yousafzai, and others. 

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To quote him, “The reason I know you’ll prevail is because so many others have done it before you. One hundred years ago, the class of 1920 graduated into the end of a deadly pandemic. Fifty years ago, the class of 1970 graduated in the midst of the Vietnam War. And nearly 20 years ago, the class of 2001 graduated just months before 9/11.”

He even mentioned about an existing trend that every generation has the tendency to underestimate the potential of the following one. He went on to say that it’s only because they don’t realise that the progress of one generation becomes the foundational premise for the next. 

As a move of encouragement, Pichai exemplified his life and stated that in his early years, he didn’t have access to a computer. Going on the same lines, he mentioned that his father had spent a year’s equivalent salary on his flight fare to the US, so that he could study at Stanford. Also, that was the first time he was travelling by air. He continued saying that he was completely awestruck by the idea that as a Stanford student, he cloud use a computer, whenever he wanted to. ‘This completely blew my mind’, said Pichai. 

He continued saying, “Had I stayed the course in graduate school, I’d probably have a Ph.D. today—which would have made my parents really proud.” However, he specified on the fact that it was this need for technology and having an open mind that helped him move forward to what he is today.

His concluding words were, “So take the time to find the thing that excites you more than anything else in the world. Not the thing your parents want you to do. Or the thing that all your friends are doing. Or that society expects of you. You have the chance to change everything. I am optimistic you will,” he said in conclusion of his speech.

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