Assignment 4

 "Commencement Address of Steve Jobs"

Last Wednesday August 11, our professor gave us something a task that we will do, that task is to read the “Commencement Address of Steve Jobs” and after we have finished read it he said that we will make a reflection or shall we say the lessons we’ve learned from what we have read from the “Commencement Address of Steve Jobs” a one thousand words of the lessons that we’ve learned from it.


First, I will let you know what is contained by the “Commencement Address of Steve Jobs”. As I have read it, it contained about the different stories or the three stories of Steve Jobs life. YES! , Just three stories about the life of Steve Jobs, from being a dropped out from college to a successful and richest man in his decades. We all know that Steve Jobs was the CEO of the apple company which is the most top company in computers and gadgets. I thought that Steve Jobs was a person, who smartly thinks of his decisions every time he makes a decision but in this Commencement Address of him, it made me think a different Steve Jobs.


The first story in his Commencement Address, it is all about connecting the dots or who is Steve Jobs when he was a young one, and what are the problems he had face since he was a young one. It stated there in the first story that Steve Jobs is a “dropped out student of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months and then he quit.” The reason why he drops out from College is started before he was born. His young biological mother was unwed college graduate student, and decided Steve Jobs to be adopted. At the age of 17, this was the age when Steve Jobs go to college, and all of the savings of his parents were spent for his college tuition. After the six months of being a college student he decided to drop out and he begin looked an interesting work. Because he dropped out and didn’t take normal classes, he decided to take a calligraphy class and learned about the serif and san serif a typeface which makes a great typography great. After ten years, they made the first Macintosh computer that has a beautiful and wonderful typography. As what have been stated in his first story,” you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards”. It this statement it make a big impact to me, that you to trust your life whatever happened, whatever trials and problems that come into your life don’t let yourself down but just continue because that trials and problems you have faces will somehow connect in your future.


The second story in Commencement Address of Steve Jobs is about love and loss. In his second story he decided to find first what he wants or really loves to do and not just let his future become a waste of time. He was lucky at the age of 20 because he find what he really loved. All along with Woz, they worked hard, and in just ten years later the small business they have started had grown unto a big company with almost over 4000 employees. Through this he made a something in his future because of his ability and his motivation to purse what he really loves. As year passes by, he turned 30 and at this age he got fired on his own company, he felt very devastated because all of his focus of his entire life was gone and the visions for the future of their company began to diverge and in the end they had falling out. He really don’t know what to do after he got fired, he said, “I had been rejected, but I was still in love.” And he decided to start it over. Five years later, he build a new company and named it NeXT which is a company similar to the Apple, and Pixar Company which was the company that create the world’s first computer animated feature film, like Toy Story which is the most successful animation studio in the world. And as of now, Steve Jobs came back to the Apple and became the CEO of the company where he first known. In his second story, although he had loss something which makes him happy, but he never lose faith and determination to pull off it again. What I learned in his second story is that once you have a thing that you love to do and eventually it loss, do not lose your faith and determination but instead just move on, we’ll never know what would happened next whether it would be positive or negative, just have will in God.


Death, this was the third story of the Commencement Address of Steve Jobs. It stated there that, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right”, It made me think that in our daily life, we should make every minute and second very valuable because we will never know what would be happened next unto you, and the most important is that you have the courage to follow your heart and perception to yourself. As what have Steve Jobs says” If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today”, in this statement, I can only say that never be afraid of dying but instead be ready to face it. We all know that our time here in this world is only limited, so we should not waste it.


Above all, the most important lessons I learned from the Commencement Address of Steve Jobs is that be humble in all the things that you want to do. Never limit yourself and try to discover the thing that makes you happy. As what have Steve Jobs says “Stay hungry and Stay foolish”.