We were pleased to welcome Matt Smith ’91 to address the Class of 2024 and the Morgan Park Academy community as the commencement speaker at our 151st graduation exercises on June 8, 2024.

Smith is a veteran TV and radio broadcaster who has been a fixture on the Los Angeles and national airwaves for nearly 30 years.

Previously a host for NFL Network programming and Los Angeles Lakers broadcasts, he currently is a radio play-by-play broadcaster for NFL and college football and college basketball, including his work as the “voice” of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. He has co-hosted “Petros and Money,” the afternoon sports talk radio show on AM 570 LA Sports, for nearly 20 years.

A native of Hammond, Indiana, Smith began his broadcasting career while studying at Pepperdine University, from which he graduated with degrees in political science and speech communication.

MORE STORIES — COMMENCEMENT 2024

 

TRANSCRIPT

Thanks for having me, everyone. I appreciate it. This is awesome; I’m not going to pretend to be too cool for school. I have not been back on campus since I graduated, so this is really cool. I got to walk around upstairs and see some classrooms for the first time in years, so I am very honored to be here. So thank you to Head of School Mercedes Z. Sheppard P’21, ’25. Thank you, Morgan Park Academy faculty and staff, and especially to my former history teacher and baseball and basketball coach, Tom Drahozal, who reached out late last year and asked if I would be interested in delivering the commencement address to the Class of 2024.

I’m really proud of you all. I mean that. I know we don’t know each other, and usually when you hear a stranger say they’re proud of you, it rings a little hollow. But I have three daughters. I know how hard high school is. Beyond the schoolwork, it’s a hard part of your lives to sort through mentally, emotionally, and physically as you are going from boys and girls to young men and women.

Everybody here knows how hard you worked. And just in case you weren’t sure or you hadn’t heard it yet, your parents right now are so incredibly proud of you.

The teachers, this faculty — they are incredibly proud of you. So you earned it. Come on, put your shoulders back a little bit. Pop your chest out. Big smile. Because this is special. You may think it’s a bunch of adults that are going to kind of drone on a little bit here, but this is a really cool day for you.

Mr. Drahozal mentioned our radio show. I have a partner. He was captain of the USC football team. And when we first got together, he mentioned he’d like to kind of loosen things up every now and then, with something he called “varsity enthusiasm.” So if you’d all humor me, I would love to get a little bit of varsity enthusiasm before we get rolling.

It’s very simple. I’m going to count to three real quick. It’s a quick 1-2-3. And then everybody — everybody, all of you — I want a big “woo!” and then we clap it up. So here we go. We may have to only do it once, or we have to do it more than once, but let’s get a little bit of varsity enthusiasm in here.

So here we go. We ready? Yes. 1-2-3. Woo!

[Audience cheers]

One more time. Ready? 1-2-3. Woo!

[Audience cheers]

Don’t be afraid to be goofy. Do not be afraid to get a little weird. The only reason we don’t more often is the judgment of others. Do not concern yourself with the judgment of others, especially strangers. And make sure you reciprocate that. When you see people laughing, dancing, singing — when they look ridiculous — embrace them and embrace their happiness. It is so important to our everyday lives.

My mom and dad and my brother are here — and my parents, they’re probably a bit more proud today of what I’ve been able to accomplish, compared to what I would guess was the incredible uncertainty of what they were thinking when I sat there [as a graduating senior] 33 years ago, as I was heading a couple thousand miles west.

So do me a favor. Make eye contact just right now if you can — find your parents, find your family. We need to tell each other how proud we are of each other more often. So just kind of lock eyes and feel that pride that you all have right now, because they’re your ride or die. They’ll be with you for the rest of your life.

For the rest of your lives, don’t ever hesitate to tell someone how great they are, how great something they’ve done was, or just how cool it was. Even if it’s that simple, you will make their day. It’s great seeing people feel great, and to know that they know that you appreciate them, as opposed to feeling appreciated yourself.

***

That’s going to be the theme today: happiness. We don’t talk about success in those terms nearly enough. Success is typically viewed through a financial lens. Some meaningless title in front of your name. How big is your house? What car do you drive? None of it will matter if you’re not enjoying yourself, if you do not care or feel excited about your situation.

Mr. Drahozal was very flattering to me in his introduction, but if there was an honest written assessment under my MPA senior photo, it would read: “Matt Smith: Intelligent but incredibly uninterested. Athletically gifted, but zero drive to get better.” I think “he might never realize his potential” was probably the thought of a lot of the faculty here.

So in all seriousness, with that MPA resume, I was thinking, why would they invite me here to share what I wish I knew 33 years ago, when I sat there as a B student, an average athlete, headed to Pepperdine University, a school that almost nobody around here had heard of?

And all I came up with was: I’m happy. I’m blessed. I love my job. I’m thankful and grateful for all of those things. And I want each of you to find that. More than anything else in your lives, I want you to always be honest with yourselves and ask, “Does this make me happy?”

So I hope this works. Our small amount of time that we’re going to spend together right now, I hope it’s beneficial for you. This is for you, not me.

You know what? I’m just going to do this.

[Rotates away from the audience to face the graduating seniors]

I’m sorry, but I want to talk to you guys, and I keep having to turn around to see you.

I don’t do this. This is my first commencement address. I have not done a public speaking engagement for six or seven years, and I get a lot of requests because I’ve been in L.A. for 20 years. I’ve been on TV, I’ve been on the radio. There’s a celebrity, even though it’s the lowest rung of the ladder, that goes with that.

But I just find all of these things to be too self-congratulatory — oh, here was my path of success, and this is what I did. That was my path, you know? This is for you. And instead of really digging deep, I think most commencement speakers end up just telling you kind of what they did. And so, before you start zoning out — because that’s what I did when our commencement speaker was here — I came up with a few things that I wish I knew when I was 17 or 18.

I hope maybe one of them sticks with you, even if it’s just for today. If it’s for the next week and hopefully for the rest of your lives, I’d be so stoked if that were the case. If I finish and you decide this was a waste of your time, I’m sorry. Sincerely. But this was not thrown together. This is like version 20, maybe 25. I threw a bunch of them out, and some emotion, as you can hear, was put into this, because I have three kids of my own.

And for you parents — again, I’m a communicator by trade. I know how hard it is to talk to your own kids, so maybe this will help, too, if you’re stuck in a rut like I am sometimes. As our kids turn into young adults, the conversations become a little more complicated, a bit more challenging. Just keep talking. Keep talking to each other.

Graduates, help out your parents. Your mom and dad are struggling with something: You’re going to be on your own for the first time in your lives. They want to help. They want to talk to you. But sometimes you got to open that door. And please do that, because you’re going to be on your own for the first time in your lives, when you go away and you’re going to run into some troubles, and they’re going to be there to help you.

***

A few overall themes: Write things down. Don’t be distracted when you’re on task. The always popular “work hard — that’s the one thing you can control.” You all know that, right? Yeah. You’ve all heard that before. Work hard. That’s the one thing you can control and great things will happen. We’re all going to work harder if we enjoy that work. So find something you enjoy.

So here we go. Number one: Quit. Change. Move on. Be patient, but not a prisoner.

I changed my major three times. I entered Pepperdine for business. That shifted to acting — my parents were very excited about that one — and then I settled on pre-law, and poli-sci and speech. You are not tied to what you think you want to do right now. If you get to school and you take an elective and something clicks, don’t be afraid to chase it. Just because you wrote something underneath your senior photo does not mean that’s what your future has to be.

Now maybe you know already, and that’s great. There’s a lot of people that can move forward right now and know exactly what they want to do, but make sure — constantly reaffirm — “This is what I’m going to do for the next 35 years, and I’m going to wake up at 5 a.m. and I’m going to come home maybe late for dinner, but man, do I love doing this.” That’s something you constantly have to ask yourself.

After my first job, I did the same thing. I changed careers three times. I was hired in the music business, I was out with rock stars backstage — gold records, private flights, all of that — and sitting in a hotel room in Dayton one day missing my daughter. I was like, “I can’t do this anymore.” So I took a different job and a 30% pay cut and we made it work. I was happy and our family was happy, because that’s what I wanted to do.

I want you to always do what you love, because that’s going to make you happy. Get up early. Find something you love that wakes you up before your alarm clock. For me, I surf every day. I get up, my alarm doesn’t go off. I paddle out to the ocean at 4:30 or 5 o’clock, and that sets me on a track for the rest of my day.

Not all of you can paddle into the ocean and go surfing, but maybe it’s grinding your own coffee beans. Maybe it’s Duolingo. Maybe it’s reading. Maybe it’s running, cycling — whatever it may be, find something to get you out of bed early, and most importantly, happy.

Learn about civics. This is so important. Your local elections. Find out who your mayor is, your city council person, your state representative. Go to their town halls. Demand what you want. They have money to spend. You get to tell them how to spend it. Believe it or not, you do. And that goes for your university too. Make sure you go to their open houses and tell them what you want changed. Presidential politics is pounding sand. That’s not going to do anything for you. But local? You guys can make a difference.

Say yes. If someone’s offering, say yes. I showed up at Pepperdine at the campus radio station, and the only show they had available was on Sunday nights. “It’s the Grateful Dead hour. Do you want it?” Yeah. OK, I’ll do it.

I lost my Sundays. That led to meeting a girl I worked with who said her boyfriend works at a record label: “It’s all the way in L.A. It’s about an hour away. They’re not paying, but there’s an internship. Do you want it?” Yes. I showed up, worked for free three days a week.

“Hey, the morning show on KROQ wants to hire a phone screener. It pays six bucks an hour, and it’s another 40 minutes past where you are right now. You have to be there at 5 a.m. Do you want it?” Yes.

And there is where I met someone who changed my life, because I was willing to make that drive every day. His name was Jimmy Kimmel. He was the sports guy for the morning show, and we immediately hit it off. He shared so many wise words with me that I still carry to this day and are a big reason for my success.

So say yes to things. The reason I’m married is because I said yes to my friend John White. We were walking home from a long day of class, and he said, “You want to go to The Arsenio Hall Show?” My other friends were drinking beers, playing video games. OK, let’s go. So what happens? We stand in line for three hours. We never get in. We eat a burger at Astro Burger, and I meet a girl named Kerie who was in another car on the way there, and we’ve now been together for 32 years, so thank you.

Say yes. Be a participant, not an observer. Do not survive; live. Let’s make sure we live. Don’t live through video games; play intramurals. Don’t scroll through Instagram and hit the heart; make the heart. That’s what I want you to do. While you’re walking around, don’t stare at that small screen. Look up, lock eyes. You might meet a future business partner. You might meet a best friend because you weren’t down there, you were up here. I want you to observe the world around you. You are young. You are spry. These are the best years of your life. So live it for you, not somebody else.

Be safe, but not scared. Like I said, I surf. People always ask, “Are you afraid of sharks?” — we’ve actually just had a couple shark issues right where I surf — and my answer is yes and no. I mean, I make sure I keep myself safe, but at the same time, the joy I extract from going in the ocean every day — oh, by the way, Zoë Rider ’24, you’re going to Pepperdine? And Peyton Gavett ’24 at UC Irvine? All right, you two, listen to me.

You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but make sure you get in the ocean. There is something special in that body of water that will change your endorphins, your dopamine, your serotonin levels. Embrace it. And for those of you that aren’t near an ocean, get outside. Sunshine, fresh air. Something about this world that we have left behind recently where we stay inside too much. Make sure you get outside and live.

That’s where the saying “buy the neighborhood, not the house” comes from, right? You might have granite countertops and mission style cabinets, but that’s not your neighbors. That’s not your neighborhood, and everything that’s happening outside. Make sure you think about your surroundings.

Competitors are appreciated. Don’t sit because you lack skill. Compete. Because — and Mr. Drahozal can attest to it, based on my athletic prowess — as long as you give effort, you will be celebrated. When you compete, you show respect to others playing and your effort is contagious.

Every conversation is an audition. I’m auditioning for you right now. Maybe you guys are brilliant. Maybe one day I’ll be hoping that you will give me a job. Remember, every interaction you have is an audition.

That was something that Jimmy passed on to me. I had five minutes of every hour over a four-hour show to do sports, and he said, “Yeah, it’s only five minutes, but you live in Hollywood. You live in the entertainment capital of the world. Someone’s listening.”

So I always approached those five minutes as if it was an audition, and that’s how I got hired by the Lakers, because [team president] Jeanie Buss loved my sports report. When they needed to hire somebody new for the Laker broadcast, she found me because I treated that five minutes not as “only five minutes” but as “I get five minutes and I’m going to deliver.” That’s how I ended up on this track.

I feel like we need a little varsity enthusiasm real quick. OK, 1-2-3. Woo!

[Audience cheers]

Listen to jazz. Charlie Zigman ’24, where are you? You’re the musician, right? Charlie, you can attest to this. Start with maybe “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck or “Si tu vois ma mére” by Sidney Bechet. Listen to jazz and listen to how these parts connect together.

I work for the Los Angeles Chargers now, and something that Jim Harbaugh says a lot is “What’s good for the hive is good for the bee.” Work together. That’s so important moving forward.

Study abroad. Go see the world. You will quickly realize that no matter what country you are in, the same things make people happy or sad wherever you are — Italy, Japan, UAE, Belgium — as what makes us happy or sad here. And it helps us connect as a people and helps us understand each other a little better. You will get that when you go abroad.

Listen. Make sure you listen. That’s how I got here: I listened. In seventh grade, my teacher Tony Churchill P’02, ’06, ’07 came up to me and asked for a favor. There was another student that was new in seventh grade. “Can you help him along?” That always stuck with me, and it was because I listened. I didn’t just stand there and think he was wasting my time. “Why can’t I be at recess right now?” That’s something I took with me.

Doc Brown [Dr. Larry Brown P’87, ’92] was my physics teacher and at the end of my senior year, he asked what I was going to study in college. I said business and he hung his head in disappointment: “Business? You’re so good at this, though. You’re so good at physics. You love this.”

I didn’t know what to say, but him saying, “You’re good at this; why wouldn’t you do this?” stuck with me. Instead of staying in business, I chased this dream, and I owe that to Doc Brown. I got good at radio and that’s what I chased.

Finally, I’ll close with this. I know it’s been a bit long, so thank you for bearing with me.

Life is not a race — and if it were, you would not want to cross the finish line early. So slow down. Enjoy it; take it in; try everything. Dive into what you love. Get rid of what you’re not into.

And again, I said it earlier, but this is the most important thing I wish I knew: Please do what you love. Wear what you want to wear. Be who you want to be. Do not worry about the approval of others, especially strangers.

All right, so now we’re connected. All of you, I feel connected to you. I’m in this with you. Anything you need — and I mean that — I’m easy to find. I’ve got social media profiles that you can dig up. Whatever you want, reach out to me. I want to see all of you succeed. I want to see all of you be happy. If there is anything I can do along the way, please, let’s get it.

Let’s go win. Let’s be happy. And can I get one more varsity enthusiasm?

1-2-3. Woo!

[Audience cheers]

Congratulations.