This is the time for graduates to enjoy their process of hardwork, dedication, and where they are now as an individual as they cross the stage. Actor Robert De Niro had more than enough words to fill people in crowds with tissue and tears as he described to graduates of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts; the ups and downs of making it towards their dreams.
De Niro challenged the graduates with these simple words; “You made it and you’re f–ked.” This statement was very harsh, but made everyone who was in attendance kind of ponder what was their next move after they walk the stage. “When you feel that you can’t fight it, you just go for it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense. Yeah you’re f–ked. That is the good news, but that’s not a bad place to start,” De Niro said.
De Niro was simply stating that what else could these graduates do to get to their dreams of being great. Despite success you have to have felt failure. Failure may come in different forms of rejection, but it makes you stronger to hold on. You have strive to want better than just the norm or average.
In a De Niro aspect, he finishes his speech with these words; “A new door is opening for you. A door to a lifetime of rejection,” De Niro said. “It’s inevitable. It’s what graduates call the real world. How do you cope with it? I hear that Valium and Vicodin work.”