Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gives an emotional speech to college graduates

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer, revealed about her husband’s death in public during an emotional speech at UC Berkeley’s commencement.

Sheryl delivered an emotional and inspirational speech to college graduates, sharing the lessons she learned after the sudden death of her husban, David Goldberg.

The entire speech was focused on the subject of building resilience – which comes from understanding three P’s namely personalization, pervasiveness and permanence – according to Sandberg.

Sheryl said no one is born with a fixed amount of resilience. She said it can be built up like a muscle and can be drawn when you need it.“In that process you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself”, said Sheryl.

Sheryl said in her speech that she has never spoken about this in public before.  She shared her experience with the grads hoping that if this day will come in their lives – with all the joy and the momentum – they can learn this in life, which Sheryl learned after the death of her husband.

A part of Sheryl Sandberg’s speech included,

 “Dave’s death changed me in profound ways. I learned about the depths of sadness and the brutality of loss. But I also learned that when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface, and breathe again. I learned that in the face of the void — or in the face of any challenge — you can choose joy and meaning”.

She also pointed towards the loss in an inevitable fact of life. According to her, every student, professor and parent would experience its affects, but what will be their situation totally depends on their ability to survive.

Sheryl, as a representative of Silicon Valley, said that she is pleased to share the learning from these happenings. One could see her dipped in emotions many times during her speech. With such an incredible speech, her aim was to prepare the graduates for the difficult and harder challenges that life inescapably presents us with and she successfully inspired the students in a fabulous manner.

Sheryl said that she expects every person to live every day of their life with joy and meaning. Her speech has touched students hearts and made many students chocked throated.