Congratulations! You should be proud of yourselves.

But let's be honest: You couldn't have done this by yourself. So take a moment, turn around, and give your families and loved ones a big round of applause.

Well, this is it. After about fifteen or so years of being known as students, of being obligated to sutdy, of being held accountable for what you've learned, or at least some of it, of being dogged by commitments and harassed by professors, today you receive an important new status: call it being part of the community of citizens.

You're transitioning, and new titles can be unsettling at first. I know this. I used to have a fancy one when I was ranked NATO Supreme Commander.

You do have your degree, but your challenge now is to figure out what you'll do with it. Some of you will go right out into the business world. Some of you will postpone going out into the world and continue your education for a master's or a doctorate. And some of you will see the summer coming and make the decision to postpone making a decision. That's fine too.

But whatever you decide, the one constant will be the abundance of choices and opportunities you'll have. And that's because you're not just an ordinary citizen of anywhere -- you're an American citizen, or many of you are.

Our country is wealthier than any in history. Our political system is the envy of the world. Our advances in science and medicine are at the forefront of mankind's effort to improve and extend life. The appeal of our culture and our entertainment reaches to the furthest corners of the globe ... No, we haven't so far created the air ships, towering buildings, and intergalactic travel that George Lucas has portrayed in "Star Wars," there are still a lot of opportunities in America.

And from all this opportunity, you are free to choose -- where to live, what profession to follow, what to see, and what to do with your life. Because in a society as open as ours, there's no dictator to demand your obedience, no conscripted service to take your freedom, no code of conduct to crush your will.

This is all yours -- and no one's demanding that you to lift a single finger to keep it. So if you want, provided you have paid off your student loans, you can walk out of here without a care in theworld. You're moving into a world filled with choices.

To paraphrase the great modern philosopher, Forest Gump's mother, lifes is like a box of chocolates -- open it and you'll never know what you'll get. I reminds me of when I was growing up in Arkansas, on special occasions when you didn't quite know what to get someone, you'd sometimes give that famous brand of candy in that specially decorated box: the Whitman Sampler. And with the Sampler you got a little taste of everything -- nougat, caramel, peanut cluster, toffee. And the thought was, you don't really know, what Mom wants for her birthday, so why choose? Why worry? You can just get a little of each. A "sampler."

It was smart advertising, and the brand became famous with the idea. Until, of course, you got home and remembered that Morn last time didn't really like the nougats. Or Dad didn't like the caramels. And after a few weeks there was a lot of stale, wasted candy as the family just grabbed what they want. A "sampler."

As you go out into the world, you'll meet people whose lives are like that box of chocolates. They do a little of this, and a little of that. Their interests are fleeting, their commitments half-hearted, their associations temporary, their convictions flexible. They live life by the bite. They take what's easy and walk away from what's hard, they don't really choose -- they sample. In our family, we call them "samplers."

But I hope you understand that the opportunities you're being given weren't created by samplers. They were creatted by the committed, the dedicated, the inspired, the courageous -- by the choosers.

I look out across this crowd and into your faces, and I believe that you're ready and willing to do your part, to become choosers. We need you to step forward

And there's so much to do.

Today, you walk out into a world that has changed dramatically since people like myself and your parents sat where you are now. Not so long ago, we were in the Cold War. At home, our country's economic dominance was unmatched in the world and if you worked hard and were willing to sacrifice, you could afford college, get a good job, make a decent living, support your family, and count on a secure retirement.

Then we won the Cold War and the Berlin Wall came down. And soon, walls all over the world came down with it -- walls between countries and people, commerce and communication. Globalization and the technological innovations of the last decade made it possible for more people to connect with each other, learn from each other, and do business with each other. And it's put China and India in a position to challenge America's economic status in the world. It's what Tom Freedman calls the Flat World.

So what does this mean for us?

Abroad, it means that while we no longer face threats from a rival superpower, the new world order has given more power to rogue dictators and terrorists who can plan an attack over email, draw up plans with information from the internet, get on a plane in Saudi Arabia, and sneak into America to cause the most heinous and devastating attack in our history.

Since that moment, we find ourselves embroiled in a vicious conflict in Iraq that has consumed hundreds of American lives and threatens to undermine the strength of our all-volunteer force. We see a terrorist leader who still defies the world and hides from the reach of American justice. We see despotic regimes in Iran and North Korea continue to pursue nuclear weapons. And we see hundreds of millions of people around the world who now profess to distrust our nation and dislike our foreign policy. And we see emerging economic competitors around the world to threaten American jobs.

We won the Cold War but we lost our global strategy. The threats have changed, our situation has changed, technology has changed, our nation has changed, and yet we still haven't created a new strategy. In the old days, the strategy was deterrence and containment. Today, as the lone superpower in the world, we need a strategy of American leadership. Not the kind that bullies the rest of the world and tells other nations that if they're not with us, they're against us. We need the kind of leadership that moves nations and people with our ideals, with the kind of steady, patient, balanced, determined work that brings the world together to destroy terrorism, that works to build international structures to help promote development and to resolve disputes between nations, respond to disasters, and to help advance respect, dignity, security, and health for every human being in the world.

We need this leadership at home, too.

Because today, your generation will not only compete for jobs and wages with graduates from Massachusetts and Arkansas and California, but with graduates from countries like India and China who are now getting the same world-class education you did. The walls that have come down around the world mean that new ideas can come from almost anywhere and new businesses, and prosperity and power, can go wherever the brainpower is.

That's why we need American leadership to insure that we're still the land of innovation, exploration, and possibility. That means looking at skyrocketing tuition prices and believing that every child in America should have the same shot at college that you all had so that they can learn and compete and win in this new economy -- and making it happen. It means it's time to finally do something about the high health care costs that arc burdening families and dragging down American businesses. And it means realizing that there are big projects we can unite this country around, like building an energy independent America that would create thousands of new jobs while freeing us from over-dependence on imported oil.

We can meet these challenges if we come together as one nation -- if we overcome the vicious partisanship which has repelled so many voters, if we get past the pervasive politicization of social and ethical issues that's turned away so many Americans. And if we find leaders who are ready to see lift up public diaglogue to address the issues.

Now, I'm not talking about the CSPAN crowd here. When I talk about the need for American leadership, about the need for American leaders, I'm talking about you -- 2005 Cornell University, that's you.

You're the citizens now. And this young century belongs to you.

And so we need you. We need your insights, your energy, your imagination, your commitment, your courage, and your integrity.

We need you to step forward. Some of you may want to contribute with your skills in medicine, or law, or journalism, or the ministry. Some may seek to create a business, or explore the latest science and technology to help improve our lives. Some of you might want to stand for public service. Some of you may want to serve in the Armed Forces to help secure our freedom. But we hope that all of you will somehow, in some way, help this country find its way forward.

When I was a youngster growing up in Arkansas I always hought in terms of one of Jesus' parables about how the master departed on a long journey, and left his servants each some talents. When the master returned, he asked each of the servants to account for the talents he had left them. With the servants who invested their talents and earned more, he was quite pleased. But with the servant who had hidden his talent to protect it ... who lacked the judgment or courage to take a risk ... the master was incredibly angry.

It's a parable that always is a little bit frightening when you first read it. I mean, it's not like he spent the talent or lost it ... he was just afraid to use it. To make something of it. And yet, this waste of talent was seen as tragic.

So today, I ask you all to make the most of your talents, your potential, and your opportunities. To dare, to dream, to risk, and to become part of something larger than yourselves. To quote Henry David Thoreau "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined."

It's a challenge and it's tough, but what I've found in life is that there is joy in taking those risks and meeting those challenges. There is fulfillment in daring to step forward, pride in sacrificing for country, community, and family.

I've seen that joy on the faces of athletes who dared and strived and excelled beyond all expectation. I've seen it on the faces of entrepreneurs when a wild and daring plan comes together. And I've seen it on the faces of soldiers after battle.

It's not always easy. But if you're able to keep even a hint of the idealism and hope you feel right now, on this day and tomorrowwhere everything seems possible, you can do it.

Robert Kennedy once said, "The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."That's what you're faced with

Freedom. Opportunity. Take courage. Have heart. Be a chooser.

Tomorrow is Commencement -- reach inside and find your youth and hold onto it every day of your life. You'll find joy.

Congratulations on your graduation, and may God bless you all.