Each year thousands of students graduate from school. Whether it be high school, college, graduate school, technical schools – you name it – there are thousands of students smarter, wiser and ready to take that next step in life. Many of those students are women who will blaze trails and go on to change the world – and many will learn from the heartfelt advice of commencement speakers. From Sheryl Sandberg to Hoda Kotb, here’s a look at some of the best graduation advice to and from incredible women over the years.
Sheryl Sandberg, University of California, Berkeley 2016
“Build resilience in yourselves. When tragedy or disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through absolutely anything. I promise you do. As the saying goes, we are more vulnerable than we ever thought, but we are stronger than we ever imagined.”
Hoda Kotb, Tulane University 2016
“Lesson No. 7: If you survive anything in your life — who cares what it is — illness, a loss, your parents split up, it doesn’t matter. Whatever your cross to bear is, if you are still standing, even if you’re teetering, you get four words. You get: You can’t scare me. Those four words are so powerful, you guys,” she said.
Whoopi Goldberg, Savannah College of Art and Design 2011
“Those are the decisions are going to have to make, when to compromise how to compromise, if to compromise at all. You’re the big hot stuff right now but you’re entering into a whole new group and you have to hold your own. You cannot hold your own if you’re rigid. You have to be able to serve.”
Mindy Kaling, Harvard 2014
“A lot of you will become the quiet heroes of our country — however, those of you who go on to work for Big Pharma or Philip Morris, you will be the loud antiheroes, and someone is certain to make an AMC series glamorizing you, so congratulations. But basically, either way, you can’t go wrong.”
Oprah Winfrey, Harvard 2013
“The challenge of life, I have found, is to build a resume that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be but it’s a story about who you want to be; it’s a resume that doesn’t just tell a story about what you want to accomplish, but why; a story that’s not just a collection of titles and positions, but a story that’s really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble, and find yourself stuck in a hole, that is the story that will get you out.”
Do you have any women in your family who are recent graduates? What piece of advice would you pass along?
