Addressing the Class of 2014 directly, Smith expressed genuine excitement about their generation's instincts. She observed that unlike her generation, which isolated itself in pursuit of prestigious individuality, these graduates were constantly connecting — communicating freely, rarely scared of strangers, wildly open, with young artists collapsing the border between themselves and their audience and young coders determined to build an all-access world. The line served as both encouragement and warning. Smith acknowledged that solipsism would always be a danger, but urged the graduates to resist the forces that would gradually close them off from others as they aged. It was a plea to maintain the openness of youth against the creeping exclusivity that her own generation had embraced.