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Chellie Pingree

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree acknowledged it was tough to find the right words this graduation season.

Pingree said she wanted Sunday's commencement speech at Southern Maine Community College to inspire graduates to change the state for the better. It's harder when their graduation excitement is tempered by thoughts of long, tough job searches.

"It can be a really challenging time. You have to be really sensitive to the environment a lot of people might be struggling with," said Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine's 1st Congressional District.

Although lofty calls for change are nothing new to college graduation ceremonies, the annual rallying cries from the steps of ivy-covered buildings or the hearts of massive football stadiums have taken on a sense of urgency this year.

Speakers in Maine and nationwide have charged graduates with tackling challenges that either did not exist when they entered college or have intensified over the past four years, from the global recession to climate change to the resurgence of violence in Afghanistan.

Speakers have urged a new crop of young adults to reject the cultural underpinnings of the financial crisis and to look for opportunities amid the ongoing economic turmoil.

President Obama challenged Arizona State University graduates to "remake the world" after an era of "greed and irresponsibility" that sparked a time of "trial and upheaval."

"The elevation of appearance over substance, celebrity over character, short-term gain over lasting achievement, is precisely what your generation needs to help end," Obama said.

His words came just a few days after one celebrity drew fire for a comment about her luxurious lifestyle.

Television talk show host Oprah Winfrey caused a stir on the Web when she told Duke University students that "anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn't great is lying to you." The statement stuck out in a speech primarily focused on hope and giving to others, and critics questioned whether it was appropriate in a time of economic instability.

Business leaders reminded graduates that tough times often drive innovation.

Larry Page, co-founder of the online search engine Google, urged graduates to have "mega-ambitious dreams."

"Overall, I know it seems like the world is crumbling out there, but it is actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity and be ambitious about it," Page said in an address at the University of Michigan.

U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Gordon Mills told University of Maine graduates that dogged pursuit of their passions in life would bring success – recession or not.

"This economy will not define you," said Mills, a Brunswick resident.

But the recession has helped define the end of their college careers and the start of their job searches.

"It's impossible to ignore," said Ian Yaffe, a Bowdoin College senior who will speak at the school's graduation ceremony Saturday. The Brunswick liberal arts college eschews big-name commencement speakers in order to give selected students a chance to address their classmates.

Yaffe, 22, of Rockville, Md., plans to ask classmates to change the way they think about community service and the common good. He favors a more "self-interested" approach to social justice work, with volunteers looking to do the best work possible in order to learn new skills, make connections and, ultimately, improve their own lives.

"Improving the world for others means we live in a better world ourselves," said Yaffe, who helped organize the Food Forward program, which donates unused food from Bowdoin dining halls to a local food bank and educates the community about hunger issues.

He said he'll talk about the economy during his speech but stressed that he is "hopeful for the future."

"We've got to come together and really think about...