On Thursday, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg got his honorary degree from Harvard University.
He had dropped out of his alma-mater and created the global social media site Facebook. In his address to the students he said, “You accomplished something I never could.” He further talked about how through his travels around the country, people have told him they’re trying to fill a void in their lives as jobs and community become less important in modern society. “It’s time for our generation to define a new social contract” where we measure progress by everyone having a role and a purpose”, he said.
He had enrolled in Harvard College in 2002 and dropped out after two years without completing his degree. He then launched Facebook, which was then known as “Thefacebook”, in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. He had also met his wife, Priscilla Chan in Harvard.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg made a 24-minutes long Facebook Live video from his Harvard dorm room when he went back there. It shows a happy Zuckerberg, remembering the college days, with his wife Priscilla, in the background.
“This is my first time being back here since I left 13 years ago. It has been a place where a lot of really special things happened in my life,” Zuckerberg said in the video.
He also said that his mother thought that he would drop out of college. He said,
“Before I went to college, my mom bet me I’d drop out and my younger sister bet me she’d finish college before me. I bet them I’d get a degree. Now I suppose the cycle is complete.”
The event was livestreamed on Harvard’s website and on Zuckerberg’s Facebook page on Thursday.
