Three years ago my buddy Garrett and I took a horrific taxi two hours into the heart of Africa to see a man. Twenty-five years earlier he was a boy and my buddy Garrett was his new best friend. An orphan boy in Africa with AIDs and a skinny college kid from UGA built a bond that would last a lifetime.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the commencement speech Garrett gave to the graduation class of The University of Georgia. A speech where he encouraged the crowd of 30,000 people to be a hero for somebody.
What most people don’t know is that Garrett had two speeches prepared for the graduation. One was 6 minutes and the other wasn’t.
“Make it quick, you have 6 minutes,” they told him as he nervously stood on stage in the UGA football stadium peering out at 30,000 students and facilty. The Governor stood next to him.
His speech lasted 18 minutes and got a standing ovation.
Here is what he posted on his Instagram today celebrating the anniversary of one moment that changed his life forever…
20 YEARS AGO TODAY
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You have SIX MINUTES 😳
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That was the last thing I heard before I stepped in front of a crowd of 30,000 people. UGA graduation on this exact day, 20 years ago. Nervous? Scared? Intimidated? You betcha. 💯
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I had written 2 speeches. 1 obvious. 1 not so obvious. One that was 6 minutes. One that was obviously not. To my left was the Governor. He was speaking next. To my right was the President of UGA. He was the one that told me to keep it short. Hmmmm Courage or Comfort. 💪
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Time stopped. My heart pounded. A football stadium of eyes stared back at me. I had just returned from Africa and had an idea for a charity called HERO. It was a long shot. This was the moment.🙏
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I tucked the first speech back in my pocket and started speaking my truth. Courage over Comfort. I spoke and I shared and I laughed and I cried. And so did the audience. 30,000 people strong. It was a speech that launched a movement. A speech about becoming a HERO for someone or something bigger than ourselves. It was the proudest moment of my life. It lasted 18 MINUTES. No one complained.🔥
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20 years later here’s what I learned:
✅ You are ONE speech away from a new opportunity, but only if you share
✅You are ONE person away from someone that can help, but only if you ask
✅You are ONE decision away from a courageous act, but only if you choose
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That speech skyrocketed to #1 on Google at the time and launched a charity - HERO - that most people in the crowd joined immediately. And so many others over the years. I had no clue any of that was even possible. I was given six minutes. But sometimes you have to go the full 18.
Garrett has been a hero to me over the past few years. He pushed me to write my book, launch virtual programs, and travel to over 50 countries together. He has taught me what it means to be a hero to others.
Here is the full version of his speech 20 years ago…
~~~This speech is dedicated to one little boy in a land far away who is my ultimate HERO
I have to be honest, when they were first looking for a graduation speaker to represent the Class of 2003, they asked the smartest, most intelligent person that the University had to offer, one who had Rhodes Scholar Potential written all over him,,,,,and he turned them down.
So then they decided to ask the best looking, most attractive person in the student body who would be the poster boy for the University of Georgia with a gleaming smile and gorgeous face,,,,,and he turned them down as well.
Finally they just decided to ask the best all around student, one who could entertain a crowd of well over 30,000 people with his oratorical fireworks and irresistible charm,,,,,and I realized that if I were to turn them down 3 times in a row,,,,,that would be pretty rude!
What can I say? It’s been a long and memorable journey, one that has consumed 4 years of our lives,,,,,actually 5 or 6 for some of us,,,,,but whose really counting--,right moms and dads?
But the fact is, we all made it here together and are soon to be graduates of the University of Georgia. But as we head off into this place some call the “Real World” let us never forget where we all came from,,,,,[MARIETTA]
We grew up in the age of Clifford the Big Red Dog and Choose your own Adventure stories,,,,,[Never Got to the End] We watched GI Joe, He Man, Transformers,,,,,[Shee-Rah and Rainbow Bright] I remember Care Bears and the Cosby Show, Doing Mad Libs in Class and playing 4 square and Kickball during PE [I was always the last one picked]
We grew up with Jelly Shoes, Hyper Color T-shirts, and Duck Tales…[wooo oooo]
We had MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and Sir Mixalot,,,,,[Great Video]
I remember Slap bracelets, my little pony, drinking a whole bottle of purple Dimatap because it tasted ohhh soo good and eating Flintstone Vitamins until I got sick.
But eventually we moved on to the Fresh Prince of Bell Air and Saved by the Bell,,,,,[Kelly Kapowski]. There were no more Cabbage Patch Kids or Mr. Potato Head,,,,,[Too Confusing] but there was Top Gun with Tom Cruise, Ferris Bueller and his infamous Day off and the all time classic of our generation,,,,,Dumb and Dumber
We remember middle school dances,,,,,[Awkward] where we danced as far apart as possible which led to high school proms where we all became,,,,,a Little bit closer,,,,,[Backseat]. And soon the day came when high school was over and college had finally arrived.
Our parents and siblings gathered around to give us words of encouragement,,,,,[Don’t drink too much]. As we told our parents goodbye, many of us saw our mothers,,,,,and sometimes our fathers cry for the very first time in our lives. We tried to hold back the tears, but the emotions got the best of us as well. As we watched our family drive away, we knew we wanted to be with them, but we also knew it was time to move on.
As we entered college, most of us lived in the dorms our Freshman year. This was the only time in our lives where you will have a TV, Toilet, Bed, and Fridge all within 5 feet of you,,,,,or at least that’s what I thought until I saw some apartments a few years later,,,,,,[Riverwalk]… but regardless,,,,Freshman year does bring back some good memories
Sophomore year we got a little bit older and a little bit wiser,,,,,[Freshmen Girls], we found out about “The Key” and realized that 8:00 classes were no longer a reality
When we were Juniors, we started to schedule our classes around our sleep patterns and worried about that big internship before Senior year,,,,,[Working for our Dad]. That was also the year most of us turned 21,,,,,[For the Second time] and learned that apparently Athens had a Bar scene as well,,,,,,Who Knew?
Then we become seniors and knew we had to compile everything the University of Georgia had given us and sell ourselves on a single sheet of paper to get that great job,,,,,[With our Dad again]… or else we could possibly end up delivering pizzas or writing math equations on bathroom stalls for fun just like our friends from that other school in Atlanta,,,,,[Georgia Tech].
Regardless, there is one thing that connects us all. Within each and every one of us is a Voice. I am not sure where it comes from. Maybe it’s the natural or the supernatural, maybe its from within or a land far away I don’t know. This voice speaks to us when we are younger, and we think we can conquer the world. As we get older, however, other people tell us everything we are un-able to do in life and sooner or later most people start believing this until one day that voice is gone and never comes back again.
College has helped us Find, Listen, and Follow that inner voice, that Dream,,,,,that Desire to DARE to be the person we were meant to be.
This past summer I had the chance to go to Africa where I befriended a little boy named Martin and 80 of his closest friends. He was 9 years old and lived at an orphanage for abandoned children with AIDS. The first day I met him he asked only one question of me:
“G-G,,,,Because they could never pronounce Garrett and they certainly could never remember Gravesen,,, “GG, GG, everyone says they’ll be back, will you really come back and see us?”
That summer I spent all of my time at the orphanage and made 80 new friends who all now support the Georgia Bulldawgs. To be honest they probably don’t even know what a Bulldawg is. What I can tell you is that right now as I am giving this speech, there are 80 little kids in Kenya who all know how to call the Dawgs and not only is UGA their favorite team, but Red and Black are their new favorite colors.
That summer was a difficult one as one of Martin’s best friends ended up passing away and I saw 80 little kids with blank stares on their faces looking for someone to turn to in their time of need. At that moment I realized why I had gone to Africa, regardless of all the people that had warned me against it. I knew that while these children may not live long lives,,,,,they still lived important ones and to have the ability to be there, to show how much I cared in a world that overlooked them made me feel like a HERO for one moment in time.
Suddenly that voice inside had gone away, life had become real, and Martin was tugging on my shirt. We sat down in the same spot that we first met months earlier and had a heart to heart. He looked me in the eye and said “GG I want you to promise that you will always remember me.” With a tear in my eye I looked back at Martin and said, “no matter what happens I promise you’re one person I will never forget.” His last words to me that summer were simple ones:
”GG, you’re my favorite friend in the whole world and I know best friends keep promises.”
We gave each other one last high five and a big bear hug and I left on a journey to fulfill one final promise to My,,,new found HERO.
College is tough and certainly has its ups and downs but it has taught us many lessons along the way. When we came to UGA that first time at Freshman Orientation we all fell in love,,,,,some of you with your Freshman Orientation leaders,,,,, and others with the fact that you were a new Georgia Bulldawg. Regardless love in some form or another had its fare share with all of our hearts. Maybe it was a high school sweetheart or for some people a Harvard grad I don’t know, maybe you moved on quickly or maybe it takes half a decade just to get over that one person, but the fact is there are those people out there who make an impression in your life and on your heart that you will never forget.
Some people get married, some people move on and others of us stay single knowing that one day our time will come,,,,,[well at least that’s what I keep telling myself]. So if you could indulge with me for just one second, look to your left, now look to your right. Now grab the hands of those beside you. Oh I’m serious here people, come on grab those hands. My point is, they say that your chances are greatest for finding love in life during your time in college. The way I see it (look at watch),,,,There is about 30 minutes left before graduation is finished and college is over. There’s still time people -- We must Act FAST!
All I can say is that love is a work in progress. Never let yourself get so angry that you stop loving because one day you will wake up from that anger and the person you love will be gone. Remember that marriage is indeed a commitment, the wedding ring is a circle of trust and the time you spend with your significant other and those treasured moments you spend with the children you bring into the world are more important that any job you will ever get or money you may make.
We are the luckiest graduating class in the nation. We have been blessed with the opportunity to have attended the oldest state-chartered institution in the US, one steeped in tradition that has changed with the times. Just this year we had a Rhodes Scholar, along with a Truman, Marshall, and Goldwater. The only other schools to do that were Harvard, Yale, and Brown…all Ivy League Schools…Now we don’t have Ivy, but we do have Kudzu! So let me ask this, did their football team go 14-1, win the SEC championship, and go on to win the Sugar Bowl……I Don’t Think So!
This University has allowed each and every one of us the ability to believe in ourselves and has instilled in us the value of giving a little bit more of ourselves than people may ever expect.
Right now I need you to close your eyes. Let me paint one final picture.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae” he asked? “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well how much is just a plain dish of ice-cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing more impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.
”I’ll have the plain ice-cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier, and left.
When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip!
As we go out and descend upon the world… Always leave more than anyone expects. Our lives are not all the same, but the voice inside of us is. Where it leads you—may all of you follow.
Sometimes we go back, sometimes our life changes. Challenge the Process, Disregard the Status Quo, sometimes you’ll be ahead, sometimes you’ll fall behind, but always trust in Yourself. For as a great writer once wrote, “never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.”
One little boy on a continent far away asked me a to make a promise: a simple request to always remember him. My time in Africa helped me truly rediscover the inner voice within me, for the past year I have followed this inner voice—and my heart—to try and help children with HIV/AIDS have a series of unforgettable experiences—before the inevitable. So with the encouragement and assistance from several other individuals, I started H.E.R.O. for Children, a non-profit organization to try and do just that. Although I am only one person trying to make a difference, I know that I am also keeping a promise to one little boy who called me his best friend.
The path is not easy and often times I struggle trying to figure out fundraising, where to get the money to even get this off the ground, or where to turn for help. Sometimes I wonder what I am even doing pushing everything I have worked so hard for to the side in order to take a risk that no one understands and go out on a limb so far that the chances are it might break before I even reach it.
But it’s in those moments that I remember back to the final time that I walked away that summer. Some friends were a little too tired to say goodbye, others were a little too sick, and one friend was still at the big grey stone at the back sleeping. It was as if they felt a pain I didn’t understand. And I realized just how fortunate I was because, as I stand here today, somewhere out there, somewhere in a land far away, is a little boy named Martin who never had this same opportunity.
To the Graduating Class of 2003, be a HERO for someone or something in life. Just like you, I am searching for answers. I want to be someone’s HERO, and maybe one day that person will be a HERO for someone else who knows? But follow that inner voice regardless of how long it might take or how difficult it may be, because in the end, there is probably some little boy or girl, some cause, or something out there that is speaking to you. Maybe even at this very moment, that is just waiting for you to listen.
We may not understand the world around us, we may not always make the right decisions, and we may not always succeed in this game we call life. But on this day as we step through the Arch our life will take on a new meaning but our times here in college will last forever. There were football games with 86,000 of your closest friends,,,,,[all making fun of Gators in Jean shorts], the times at the library,,,,,[We never studied], and trips to the Ramsey Center,,,,,[only before Spring Break], there were nights when we crammed and days when we slept. We went to a place called Uptown freshman year and then Downtown every year after. There were friendships built and relationships lost, there were laughs that have brought us together and tears that have driven us apart, but it is all of this that has made college worthwhile.
I want to say thank you to everyone, thank you to my family, the Gentlemen of HOA, and each and every member of the Graduating Class of 2003. May you find happiness in all you set out to achieve and go on to become the best mothers and fathers of the children you may one day bring into this world.
Congratulations and best of luck!
Garrett Gravesen
UGA Graduation Speaker 2003
Be a hero to somebody today. They need you. We need you.
Connect with Garrett on Instagram or online: https://www.garrettgravesen.com/