Alumni Jason Barsema ’03 Provides the Class of 2023 with Helpful Advice
Emphasizing change and adaptation, Barsema hopes the graduating senior class will heed his words
This year’s commencement speaker was Jason Barsema ’03, a Berkeley Alumni who graduated from Northern Illinois University. He achieved a bachelor’s degree in economics and is now the co-president and founder of Halo Investing. After Jason’s experiences in the cutthroat financial world, he returned to campus to provide the class of 2023 with some words of wisdom.
In his speech, Barsema began by talking about how life has changed since his time as a high schooler and how people had to adapt to new innovations and ideas. Similarly, the class of 2023 had to deal with the struggles of COVID-19 while just starting high school but were able to persevere and adapt, and concurrently also adapting to the struggles of just being a high school student.
Jason said, “Embrace and aggressively seek failure, or—as we say in the startup world—fail fast and adapt. You will be better for it, and be proud because at least you tried. That is more than most can say. You cannot change the world if you are not taking risks, and if you take risks, you will fail. Embrace it and adapt.”
Barsema brought attention to a couple of main points such as being able to learn from failure, to enjoy oneself, to have a plan for life but still being able to adapt to the world’s challenges and to do something bigger than yourself. A key role in all of these points is the trait of adaptability.
“Just as important, remember that you are able to adapt better than any other generation on the planet. Adaptation is your greatest asset, and I have never been more confident in this world’s future thanks to you,” Barsema said.
By the end of his speech, the audience walked away knowing that by implementing Barsema’s guidance and advice, they can make a positive change in the world.
Read the full speech here:
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