Dinklage told the story of being approached on a Manhattan street by breathless NYU freshmen who were majoring in musical theater. When he asked what musicals they were doing, one of them looked down at her shoes and said, 'We aren't allowed to be in plays our freshman year.' They were paying high tuition to not do what they loved. Dinklage said he told them to 'hang in there,' but what he should have said was 'don't wait.' He contrasted NYU's approach with Bennington's culture, where if a freshman wanted to write, direct, and star in her own musical, 'the lights would already be hung for her.' He then turned the anecdote into a broader life lesson: he had waited a long time in the world before giving himself permission to fail. His message to graduates was to stop asking for permission, stop telling the world you're ready, and simply show it through action.