Abdul El-Sayed’s commencement speech in 2007 was so good it led Bill Clinton to tell him to go into politics at just 22 years old

On a sunny day in 2007, Abdul El-Sayed stood before a crowd of thousands at the University of Michigan, delivering an impactful student commencement speech. As a 22-year-old Michigan native, El-Sayed attempted to capture the essence of what made the university experience truly special. Rather than focusing on the academic knowledge or professional qualifications that come with a degree from one of the nation's top public universities, he highlighted the intangible qualities that defined the institution.

"The Michigan difference is us," El-Sayed declared. "It's the students - their diversity, their self-improvement, their questions and answers, their care for others, their passions." El-Sayed argued that the world needed the ambition and desire to help others that students had developed during their time at Michigan. "It needs us to spread that contagious Michigan passion," he concluded, "that has come to define us."

Bill Clinton, the former president, was so moved by El-Sayed's speech that he wished 'every person in the world' could have heard it. When El-Sayed later informed Clinton that he was planning to pursue a career in medicine, the former president asked him why he was not considering a future in politics. A decade later, El-Sayed heeded Clinton's advice and ventured into politics, ultimately becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.