At a young age of 49, Steve Jobs has been able to create a company called Apple, NeXT (a company later bought by Apple), and played a huge role in the startup of Pixar. This is the same man who dropped out of college, got fired from his own company, and looked death in the eye. Today, Jobs shared his story with the graduating class of Stanford urging the students to “stay hungry,” and “stay foolish”.
If Jobs had never dropped out he never would have dropped in. A college education was something that Steve Jobs’ family, biological and adopted, lacked. It was something that became expected of him. He committed to Reed College in Portland, Oregon but dropped out after he felt as though his time and parents money were being wasted. After he dropped out he began dropping in on classes that actually interested him. “Follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path and that will make all the difference.” Steve Jobs did follow his heart. He had no idea that the one calligraphy class he sat in on would have given the Mac the typography to make it stand out from the rest. Him and his good friend from highschool Steve Wozniak (Woz) worked in a basement to create the computer that launched Apple. He trusted in himself, and he trusted in Woz. Within 10 years they went from two people in their parents’ garage to a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.
Steve Jobs became a public icon by following his dreams and creating the new innovative Apple company. Aftering being fired from the company he started he deemed himself as a public failure. He had been rejected from his own creation, but refused to lose faith. Jobs felt “the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.” This was the time when Jobs created NeXT and invested in Pixar. NeXt was bought by Apple which brought Jobs back into his company and Pixar made the world’s first computer animated film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio.
After fighting his way back to the top, his body began to give him a scare. He was told he had an incurable type of pancreas cancer and needed to start figuring out how to say goodbye to his loved ones. When Jobs thought he was staring death straight in the eye he found out that he had a rare type of cancer that could be cured with surgery. He got the surgery and is a healthy cancer free man now. He took that familiar fear of death and uses it every day for inspiration. Death is one thing everyone has in common. It is the balance to our world, it wipes away the old to make room for the new. Jobs found out first hand that “your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” After that experience he has not wasted a day doing something he was not fully into.
Steve Jobs has found ways to make the most out of life. He follows his heart and embraces his passion. With his accomplishments come his hardships but instead of giving up he pushes through to make a greater outcome. “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.” This is exactly what Jobs did. He followed his heart and never gave up on himself. He stayed hungry and foolish and because of this he is considered to be incredibly successful. His stories give reasons why these 2009 Stanford graduates should never give up on their dreams. Life is not going to go the way you expect, you have to be ready for the changes and be willing to embrace them. The college education you got will only take you as far as your passion will push it. Never give up on what you want… “stay hungry” and “stay foolish”.