LTU Commencement Speaker Offers Students a Pathway to Finding Life’s True Meaning

SOUTHFIELD—More than 200 Lawrence Technological University students became LTU’s newest alumni at the university’s 97th Commencement Exercises, held Saturday at Don Ridler Field House on the LTU campus.

And in doing so, they heard an inspiring message on finding meaning and purpose in life from an internationally renowned speaker, author, and psychology researcher.

LTU President Tarek Sobh began the ceremony by congratulating the graduates. “Today marks the beginning of a journey where your dreams meet boundless opportunity,” he said. “The future is yours to shape. Go forth boldly, and make the world better, brighter, and uniquely yours.”

Part of that journey is finding meaning and purpose in life, and Commencement speaker Emily Esfahani Smith provided ideas that will help the graduates do just that.

Smith said that when she was young, she thought her life would be a predictable straight path, but that in reality, life is “full of twists and turns, moments of uncertainty, doubt, clarity, joy, and pain. What I want to propose is that as you walk that path, the search for meaning and purpose in your lives be the north star that leads you forward.”

She said Western culture emphasizes that a good life is a happy one. But she said happiness can be fleeting, while meaning is different. It’s about fulfillment, connecting to something beyond yourself, family, the work you do, the sacred. “It comes from giving of ourselves to the world and to others,” she said.

Smith said research for her book and essays found that meaning in life “is accessible to all of us,” and is centered around three concepts she called “pillars.”

First, belonging. She said belonging “comes from a certain type of relationship, where you feel valued for who you are intrinsically and value others for who they are intrinsically,” rather than criteria like appearance or wealth or privilege. She provided examples of how being mindful of offers of connection from others can build belonging.

Second is purpose, what Smith said was “what motivates us, what gets us out of bed in the morning, the why of our lives.” She said purpose can be achieved through work, inventing amazing technology or medical advances, but could “also be raising children, if you choose to do that, or being a good friend.”

Third, she said, is storytelling, “the narrative that we craft about our lives.” She said the story we tell ourselves is far more important than most of us realize, and that “we are the authors of our own stories, so we have the power to edit them or change them.” She said people can craft powerful, positive self-stories through counseling or spirituality, but can also learn it through deep introspection.

Smith is the author of the book The Power of Meaning, an international bestseller, which was published by Crown and has been translated into 16 languages. She has also delivered dozens of keynote addresses and workshops at corporations, conferences, non-profit organizations, libraries, and universities around the world. Her 2017 TED talk “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” has been viewed more than 15 million times.

The former managing editor of The New Criterion, a literary magazine, Smith’s articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her articles for The Atlantic, “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” (about Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl) and “Masters of Love” (about romance and marriage) have reached over 30 million readers. In 2019, she was a Poynter Journalism Fellow at Yale University.

Smith left the students with the idea that “meaning is within each of us and at our fingertips in ways we may not realize. It’s acts of kindness toward others, framing the things we do as giving to the world in some way. Even chores and paperwork serve some larger purpose.” She said those who devote more of their lives to the search for meaning do better in school, are more productive and satisfied in their careers, are more resilient in the face of adversity, and even approach the end of their lives more at peace.

The entire LTU Commencement ceremony is available online at https://www.youtube.com/live/rgi6aq7a_O4. Smith’s remarks begin at the 30:30 mark.

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. And LTU is included in the Princeton Review’s “The Best 390 Colleges 2025 Edition,” a list of the nation’s top 15 percent of colleges and universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.