Keillor framed the transition from college to adulthood as a shift from external validation to internal compass. For twenty-plus years, he noted, graduates had been evaluated and rewarded by others — grades, prizes, parental approval. But none of that matters anymore. What matters now is the far more difficult task of living according to your own standards. He was characteristically blunt about the limitations of academic achievement: 'Scores don't matter that much. Prizes don't matter. You're all above average, but so what? This is not a nation of great intellects.' The real measure, he insisted, would be personal integrity — being honest, looking people in the eye, and mastering fear.