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At Northern Arizona University’s May 13, 2023 commencement, Bill Gates offered graduates five lessons he wished he had heard before leaving college: stay open to changing direction, keep learning, seek important work, value friendship, and make room for rest and relationships. His story is an account of one exceptional career—not evidence that dropping out is a reliable path to success.
Why Gates spoke to NAU graduates
Gates told the Class of 2023 that he left college after three semesters to start Microsoft and did not attend his own graduation. As he put it in his prepared remarks, “Some of you might know that I never made it to my own graduation. I left after three semesters to start Microsoft.” He said he wanted to share “the five things I wish I was told at the graduation I never attended.”
The address was his third commencement speech, following Harvard in 2007 and Stanford in 2014. NAU awarded him an honorary doctorate and an honorary ducky. He congratulated graduates who had completed college during the COVID-19 pandemic period, speaking to students in engineering, informatics, applied sciences, environment, forestry, and natural sciences. His examples—from forestry and climate change to programming and AI—were tailored to that audience. Read Gates’s full prepared remarks at Gates Notes.
What are the five things Bill Gates wishes he had heard at graduation?
1. Your life isn’t a one-act play
Gates’s first lesson was that a career decision does not have to determine the rest of your life. He once expected to work at Microsoft indefinitely; later, he turned to full-time philanthropic work. His point was not that every change will be easy, but that people can revise their direction as their interests and circumstances change.
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For graduates, that means treating an early job or major as a starting point rather than a life sentence. A first role can build skills and reveal what matters to you, even if it leads somewhere you did not expect.
2. You are never too smart to be confused
Gates urged graduates to recognize what they do not know, think carefully about difficult questions, and ask knowledgeable people for help. Confusion, in this view, is not proof that you cannot learn; it is often the point where learning begins. He described the rest of life as an education.
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That advice applies whether you are learning a new profession, working through a complex problem, or trying to understand a decision with real consequences. Asking for guidance is a practical way to close knowledge gaps, not a reason to hide them.
3. Gravitate toward work that solves an important problem
Gates connected meaningful work with purpose and energy. He pointed forestry graduates toward tools such as drones and LIDAR mapping, which can help address challenges related to forests and climate change. For programmers, he raised the possibilities of broadening access to AI and reducing bias.
The advice is to look beyond a job title when weighing a path: consider what problem the work addresses and whether that problem matters to you. Gates did not suggest that there is only one kind of worthwhile work or that purpose alone resolves practical career trade-offs.
4. Don’t underestimate the power of friendship
Gates recalled becoming friends with fellow student Paul Allen, with whom he later started Microsoft. He encouraged graduates to see classmates not only as people they share a campus with, but also as possible collaborators, colleagues, and sources of support and advice.
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His line for the graduates was: “The only thing more valuable than what you walk offstage with today is who you walk onstage with.” The broader lesson is about investing in relationships, rather than treating professional success as a solo effort.
5. You are not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack
Gates said that earlier in his career he dismissed vacations and weekends and tracked employees’ hours. His perspective changed as he got older and became a father. He urged graduates to nurture relationships, celebrate successes, recover from losses, and take breaks instead of treating constant work as a virtue.
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His advice was not to stop caring about your work. It was to recognize that effort needs to be sustainable, and that time for people and recovery is part of a life—not a failure of ambition.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the dropout story does—and doesn’t—show
Gates’s own path explains why he spoke about the graduation he missed, but it does not establish that leaving college is a dependable route to success. The address is better read as advice about flexibility, continued learning, meaningful work, friendship, and balance for graduates making their own choices. The five lessons do not require copying the unusual decision that began Gates’s career.
GeekWire’s May 15, 2023, contemporaneous account also summarized the five themes in the speech. Read GeekWire’s coverage of Gates’s NAU address.
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