Best commencement speech

 Happy Monday ka, everyone.

Normally, the months of May and June are for commencement of most universities in the US. So, I think some of you may have listened to great speeches from celebs, distinguished alums or industry experts. Graduating class also has its representative chosen as well.

This time, several punching statements were reported on the news like a Chinese graduate from Harvard Kennedy school.who shared her reflection on global unity, empathy, and the interconnectedness of people across cultures and borders.

For me, I was most impressed with Brad Meltzer and it happened to be from last year... 2024 commencement at the University of Michigan ka. Normally, speakers could use 'the magic of three'....to say something like, 3 pieces of advice, 3 key points, etc. Others may have 1-2 paragraphs that were real punching. Brad's speech was different to capture my attention throughout. 

In short, his advice was to know oneself, embrace fear, be empathetic and keep changing. The metaphor of how magicians worked on their magical tricks was really effective ka. They are:

- Make something appear: Make one's inner self visible, bringing the best of themselves with confidence and authenticity.

- Make something disappear: Let go of fear and self-doubt. He shared his story working in an ice cream shop to be given a hard time by a customer. He said he was afraid to talk back but he realized that he was able to rid his fear after that.  

- Switch places: He urged students to have empathy, understanding others’ perspectives and to lead with kindness.

- Change one thing into something else: We must transform ourselves for further growth and success ka. 

He emphasized that the real magic was in the memories we create and the people we share them with and that relationships and community are very important. On relationships, I noticed that most, if not all the commencement speeches I watched this year, focused on it, especially family ka....so very crucial in our AI world na ka.

His public speaking skill was striking and as his son was also a graduate at the commencement, his opening made it so fun and with ready connectedness ka.

See if you agree with me na ka.....check the youtube out ka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSO_t39lszo

Event for all ages?

 Hi everyone! It's Monday again for me to practice my writing skill:))!

Yesterday, I went to มนุษย์ต่างวัย -- People of All Ages Event as I've been watching its program for quite some time and found it interesting ka.

They sure had quite a few activities  to offer and here are what I observed:

1. It met with its event theme to have differing ages attending, some with colleagues, others with friends or younger family members. Hopefully, some good lessons will be drawn how to further promote intergenerational socialization and sharing ka.

2. The activities ranged from health checks to workshops and shopping booths (soothing scents from candles/sprays, trips for the elderly, shoes, etc.) I sure bought several things ka.

3. The most popular was the health section especially brain/alzheimer checks...with long queues to wait for at least 1-2 hours. This gave the organizers some lessons how to manage to be more readily responsive to the visitors.

4. One booth offered flowers for us to pick one to give any stranger. This was to encourage people to do something different, greeting strangers with good intention. At least after we gave the person a flower, there was a small talk....narak dee ka. The event made us feel it was a safe zone to do so too na ka.

5. Some ideas to draw people to visit the booths worked for me. One drew a picture of the visitors from their stories in exchange for becoming a line friend. Another got a free gift from adding a line friend. There was one that required quite a bit of personal information for me to ignore it loei ka.

This sort of event will be even more popular in the future now that we have many more elders who need to learn how to have healthy aging lives while sharing and living with the younger from other generations ka.

New Vocab!

 Hello all! Hope you had a great weekend na ka.

When I was planning on what to share this week, I read some articles to learn these two new words ka:

1. No Kings Protest, which was literally everywhere this weekend in many cities in the US. It coincided with President Donald Trump's military parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, and with his 79th birthday. 'Protesters viewed the parade as an authoritarian display and a self-aggrandizing event, especially given Trump's history of defying court orders, deporting citizens, and restricting civil rights.' 

When I was talking with several Fulbright alums, I learned that  even in very quiet and small cities, people took part too.

I didn't know why it mentioned 'King' so I asked a copilot to get this response (which is really up to date):

The "No Kings" protests were massive, coordinated demonstrations held across the United States on June 14, 2025, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Protesters rallied in over 2,000 cities, making it one of the largest single-day protest movements in recent U.S. history. 

The name “No Kings” was coined by the 50501 Movement (50 states, 50 protests, one movement) to oppose what they view as authoritarian tendencies in Trump’s second term. Demonstrators criticized the use of military parades, immigration raids, and what they described as democratic backsliding.

2. GZERO is the second vocab that again led me to check what it actually meant ka. This could refer to conflicts in the Middle East, which have been getting more serious.

My copilot offers this description ka:

GZERO is a term coined by political scientist Ian Bremmer (I read his article lae ka) to describe a world order where no single country or alliance is willing or able to take on global leadership. It reflects a shift away from the dominance of powers like the U.S. or coalitions like the G7, toward a more fragmented and unpredictable international system. 

These two terms seem to point the fingers directly at Mr. T na ka.

Any response mai ka?

Bucket List of Life

Happy Tuesday ka.

Last week, there was a little lunch I looked forward to ... for a few reasons. It was nice to see Ying, our Fulbright alum who came back home for a visit. I was happy to see that his wife, Hong, was able to come along so I could get to know her too. I got their life's updates working and living in Germany and had a little more understanding about his work as a Spacecraft Embedded Software Engineer (copied from LInkedIn....feeling it's even more amazing!). I told them about this egroup and said I expected to have some to share with you all after this lunch ka (5555!).

What comes to your mind?

Both graduated from Chula, one from Engineering and the other from Arts. Right away, it caught my mind to think of the older settings of Thai novels for an engineering guy to go after an arts student......telling me how old I am. It happened with my kid sister too when I mentioned it....could be much older generations to think of it mai ka?. You?

What do you think would be the main focus of the chat?

It wasn't much about his work as earlier expected. I did ask about it to find out that it's a startup to design and build spacecrafts that are launched at one of the SpaceX bases in the US every year ka. Yet, our conversation went to focus on life and relationship ka. 

How important is a bucket list?

For younger ones with their energy and drive in this social media world, they have their bucket list...with long lists to cover during their vacays. Being an engineer, Ying is very systematic and his wife has also become one great partner to list down and agree on their preferred places to visit. When asked how they feel after each trip as they've been able to cover most, if not all. When going back home, Ying felt it wasn't really a vacation as they both were kind of tired with lesser rest.

Do you have your bucket list and would you want it to be kind of more relaxing or more places to visit? Have things changed when getting older? How?

I don't have my bucket list ka. I also learned that the older I get, the more sabai I wish to be....even when much younger, I wasn't the adventurous type and tended to chill ka.

What surprised me?

- He said he was surprised how I could continue my podcast for 5 years now. I think I was the one getting the surprise. Funny mai ka? Well! I didn't think much about the podcast mung ka. Admittedly, I felt good to have done it this far but the feeling hasn't stayed on for long ka.

- The first thing they wanted to buy from Thailand to bring back to Germany -- pick one kaaa!

a) namprik (chili paste) b) rubber band c) dried fish d) durian chips

The answer was 'b' ka. What is available isn't the same as ours ka...interesting na ka.

What were little things that meant so much?

- Caring between them touched me a lot especially when it came with a little explanation. Ying was saying that sometimes when he ate very fast, Hong would think that he was very hungry when in fact, it was delicious. During our lunch, Ying also served his wife which isn't what he does at home. He said he knows his wife could be a little shy when in some new circles and may not eat much.

- They also shared what they thought about relationships as husband and wife. It was sweet to know that both have the intention to do their best. At some point, Hong was unsure about her contribution as she only took care of the house and meals while Ying was the sole income earner. Ying answered that he feels fine to do so. He also said earlier that he's enjoyed the food Hong cooks all through the years they're married.

Narak mai la ka? 

Again, it is one beautiful relationship and was one great get-together for me loei ka.