Be a Volunteer: An Inspirational Commencement Speech

"I'm not important, but I have an earnest message for the world," Alison says. "You are not being asked to go shave your head and become a monk, but to imagine a world where everyone does their part."
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Alison Thompson is a real-life angel. She has devoted her life to service, volunteering at Ground Zero immediately after the September 11th attacks; in Sri Lanka after the Asian tsunami in 2004; and co-creating the JP/HRO relief camp with Sean Penn in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Soon, she will be heading off to Nepal to help rebuild from the recent earthquake.

You can learn more about Alison by reading this blog that I wrote. Here, I wanted to share her inspirational 2015 Loyola Chicago University Commencement speech. In it, she urges people to be of service.

"I'm not important, but I have an earnest message for the world," Alison says. "You are not being asked to go shave your head and become a monk, but to imagine a world where everyone does their part. Soon the karma banks are overflowing with blue chip stocks of compassion and we are all billionaires on the inside. Imagine a world where souls are more valuable than money. Isn't that the way it was meant to be?"

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE