Long

You're about to embark on careers that will take many of you to companies not yet founded, using devices not yet developed, based on ideas not yet conceived. That is how fast things are moving.

The last person to hold you accountable is you yourself. If you allow others to tell you your worth, you will have given up on yourself.

There will be blind alleys and one-night wonders and soul-crushing jobs and wake-up calls and crises of confidence and moments of transcendence when you are walking down the street and someone will thank you for telling your story because it resonated with their own.

I learned that unlikely events — the things we say could never happen to us — happen all the time, because there are so many possible unlikely events that a few of them will happen.

The art of medicine means telling someone what they may already know at some deep non-verbal level, something they may fear or vaguely anticipate, and communicating that something in a way that offers insight and compassion.

'Wait, what' is at the root of all understanding. 'I wonder' is at the heart of all curiosity. 'Couldn't we at least' is the beginning of all progress. 'How can I help' is at the base of all good relationships. And 'what really matters' gets you to the heart of life.

I could do things my way, even if that was a way that no one had ever done before or would ever care to do again. It was valid and unique and ultimately viable.

Just please be honest with yourself about what you think and how you feel about all of that, what you like and dislike, what angers you or scares you or saddens you or inspires you, or delights you. Those feelings are called your instincts, and you ignore them at your own peril.

Knowing who you are is the compass that will help guide you to unexpected opportunity or when a setback blows your way. Knowing who you are is the centerboard that will help steady you when you're afraid you may capsize.

You have to be willing to fight for what you believe in. Washington is full of people who say no, and who are saying it in nastier and nastier ways. But knowing who you are will help you when it's time to fight.

At the core, none of us were meant to be common. We were born to be comets, darting across space and time — leaving our mark as we crash into everything.

Education is no equalizer — rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream. So wake up. Lift your voices until you've patched every hole in a child's broken sky.