Harvard University

In bringing the president to me, in having me speak to and question a shaper of history and experience the value he saw in my view, Harvard would make me feel I too could be him. I too had the power to shape history and not just be passively shaped by it.

Revolutions not in arms but in minds — more powerful and permanent and pervasive.

That fairness that my parents and I take for granted, that many Americans take for granted, is in many ways resting on your shoulders to uphold. You represent those who will make laws and effect change.

You take words, and you turn them into the infrastructure that keeps our world stable. A lot of you will become the quiet heroes of our country.

I look at all of you and see America's future — attorneys, corporate lawyers, public prosecutors, judges, politicians, maybe even the President. Those are all positions of such great influence. Understand that one day, you will have the power to make a difference. So use it well.

There is no straight path from your seat today to where you are going. Don't try to draw that line. You will not just get it wrong, you'll miss big opportunities.

We don't always see the hard truths, and once we see them, we don't always have the courage to speak out. The world was not equal then, and it is not equal now.

The first time I spoke out about what it was like to be a woman in the workforce was less than five years ago. That means that for eighteen years, from where you sit to where I stand, my silence implied that everything was OK. You can do better than I did.

Relax, dude! You just finished college at Harvard. You worked so hard. Trust me, you're gonna kill it.

You can't do it alone. As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own.

When you feel scared, hold someone's hand and look into their eyes. And when you feel brave, do the same thing.

Take your risks now. As you grow older, you become more fearful and less flexible. And I mean that literally — I hurt my knee on the treadmill this week and it wasn't even on.