Life goes on.

The funny thing about auditions is that sometimes you can't really judge whether or not you did well. You just go in, do it, and hope. I was not selected as speaker, but here was the piece I auditioned with for the MCB student commencement speaker.
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Esteemed faculty, parents, friends, and most importantly, the class of 2009:

I have a confession to make. I grew up a Stanford fan.

Now, before you all run up here and beat me to death, let me explain. I grew up in Palo Alto and attended Palo Alto High School, which sits right across the street from the Stanford campus. My dream – my poor, misguided DESTINY – was to attend Stanford. As most of us here today know all too well, rarely do our lives go down our intended paths. Almost all of us, at some point, had to have at least considered, if not utilized, a second option. I didn't get into Stanford and turned to consider other schools. Fortunately for me, my decision to attend UC Berkeley and concentrate in Molecular and Cell Biology became the best choice I have made in my 22 years. From the time I first stepped foot on campus four years ago, I have loved this school with all my heart, and I could not imagine a more inspiring place to receive a top-shelf education, especially in Molecular and Cell Biology. I am ashamed that Cal was ever anything below a first-choice school on my list.

Having had to hand-pick our majors at some point in the past four years, we have all asked ourselves the question, “Why MCB?” The strange thing about choosing UC Berkeley, and MCB in particular, is that we actively chose to forego the path of least resistance. Quite honestly, the last four years could have been so much easier. Many of us could have attended a smaller, far more expensive school served with a heaping side of grade inflation and a 64-ounce cup of hand-holding. For our decision to let all that go and instead face the daunting task of completing a degree in the largest department at one of the most notoriously difficult schools in the world – for that decision, some people call us foolish. I call those people humanities majors.

The MCB experience here at Cal is a coming-of-age experience unto itself. I was watching the Discovery Channel and learned about this small tribe in the Amazon that initiates their young men by sticking a bunch of these gigantic, inch-long ants into gloves made of interwoven leaves, which are then fastened onto the hands of the young boys. The ants bite the boys' hands nonstop, and this incredibly painful experience turns their hands black and swollen to twice their normal size. This process is repeated twenty times before the boys are recognized as men. Now, I tell this story as an analogy to help the parents understand a common fiber that links all of us MCB students. Ready? We call those ants “organic chemistry.” That's honestly how painful it felt sometimes. But we all went through it and came out the other end a little smarter, a little tougher, and a little more mature. I know I do not regret my decision because the MCB major put us through the grind and ultimately made us better people.

When we chose MCB here, we took on our challenge with pride. Our battle scars are the dark bags sagging underneath our eyes, the deep calluses on our fingers from furiously taking notes and doing problem sets, and our injured social skills, no thanks to the myriad nights of parking ourselves in the library burning the midnight oil. With every battle won, of course, comes rewards. Our trophies are the well-developed muscles from slinging our Campbell and Vollhardt books, the sharp ear developed in lectures with professors who blaze by at ten words a second, and most importantly, a degree that makes others fall on their knees and weep in jealousy knowing that we received an intensive, serious, door-opening education in one of the most important scientific fields in existence. This degree, and all the experiences that came with it, equips us with the power to enter all sorts of careers that can change lives for the better and revolutionize the collective knowledge of the life sciences. We are incredibly privileged to have learned from some of the world's best researchers, doctors, and educators. You simply cannot get this kind of encompassing experience anywhere else in the world other than right here, our glorious alma mater that turned our blood Blue and Gold, the fair mistress by the sea, the University of California, Berkeley. Honestly, I'm not really sure why I bothered with Stanford in the first place. Thank you, and as always, Go Bears.
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Exciting story coming next. Hold on to your seats.