After challenging the graduates to become agents of change in the fight against global poverty, Rice turned to personal advice. She shared her own winding career path — from wanting to be a U.S. Senator, to studying at Oxford, to sampling the business world at McKinsey precisely because she was terrible at math. She had never followed a preordained path but instead pushed herself to learn new skills and took unexpected turns when her gut dictated. The lesson: don't settle on a single path too soon, and when you do find what moves you, pursue it with fearless conviction. Stick to your principles, she added, and never want something so badly that you compromise what you believe in to get it.