Mindy Kaling

I was not someone who should have the life I have now, and yet I do. I was sitting in the chair you are literally sitting in right now and I just whispered, 'Why not me?' And I kept whispering it for seventeen years.

Don't be scared if you don't do things in the right order, or if you don't do some things at all. If you have a checklist, good for you. Structured ambition can sometimes be motivating. But also, feel free to let it go.

You have to have insane confidence in yourself, even if it's not real. You need to be your own cheerleader now, because there isn't a room full of people waiting with pom-poms to tell you you did it.

That fairness that my parents and I take for granted, that many Americans take for granted, is in many ways resting on your shoulders to uphold. You represent those who will make laws and effect change.

You take words, and you turn them into the infrastructure that keeps our world stable. A lot of you will become the quiet heroes of our country.

I look at all of you and see America's future — attorneys, corporate lawyers, public prosecutors, judges, politicians, maybe even the President. Those are all positions of such great influence. Understand that one day, you will have the power to make a difference. So use it well.