Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, delivered this speech at UPenn in 2016 at the height of his show's cultural impact. He opened by humorously apologizing that Philadelphia is barely mentioned in Hamilton despite its historical significance, then pivoted to the deeper theme of his address: the power of storytelling choices. Miranda illustrated this principle through his own creative process, explaining how every detail he chose to dramatize in Hamilton meant leaving out ten others. He included King George at the expense of Ben Franklin, dramatized Angelica Schuyler's intelligence at the expense of Benedict Arnold's betrayal. He then connected this artistic principle to life itself, noting that the version of senior week graduates shared with their parents was quite different from what actually happened. This quote captures Miranda's central thesis: that the narratives we construct about our lives — what we include, what we omit, what we emphasize — are not passive reflections but active choices that shape who we become.