Popova drew a sharp distinction between destruction and construction as modes of engaging with the world. Both leave a mark and give us a sense of agency, she acknowledged, and sometimes destruction is necessary — damaged systems must be demolished. But destruction alone, without construction to follow, is 'hapless and lazy.' She warned the graduating journalists and media makers that they would frequently face this fork: the choice between being the hammer-wielding vandal who tears things down for attention, or the sculptor of culture, patiently chiseling at the bedrock of how things are to create something following a nobler vision of how things should be.