Rice closed her speech with perhaps its most personal moment. She spoke about how both of her parents had recently been struck by serious illnesses. Her colleagues at the United Nations had been tremendous about stepping in for her at work, but nobody could step in for her or her brother at the hospital bedside. This experience crystallized something she urged the graduates to remember: as they went about changing the world, they should never neglect family. Career accomplishments are replaceable — someone else can always do your job — but the role of a loving child or devoted parent is irreplaceable. Family isn't just a foundation, she said; it's the source of life's greatest fulfillment.