Goldberg closed her SCAD commencement address with this deeply personal appeal for authenticity. She reflected on her mother's advice from childhood — that being unique meant not everyone would understand her, not everyone would like her, and she would sometimes be alone. As someone who built an extraordinary career by being unapologetically herself — from her breakout one-woman show on Broadway to becoming only the second Black woman to win an Academy Award — Goldberg spoke from hard-won experience. Her simple, direct language cut through the usual platitudes about 'being yourself' by honestly acknowledging the cost: uniqueness can be lonely. But the alternative, she argued, is losing yourself entirely.