More from Kathy Hochul

Dream big. Envision yourself. You can be a leader in your industry, or you can be the leader of a state. There is nothing stopping you.

KH

Kathy Hochul

Syracuse University Commencement 2021, 2021

26:37

Video starts at 26:37 — the moment this quote was spoken

The Story Behind This Quote

Hochul tells the story of her father — the child of poor immigrants who worked at a steel plant, lived in a trailer park, and never went to college. When it came time to visit schools, he took her on a road trip across New York. After visiting the Maxwell School at Syracuse, he said something that changed her life: 'Dolly, some of those other schools might be good for teaching you a lot, but that's probably where the wife of a congressperson might go. You go to Syracuse, you could be a congressperson.' She never forgot it. Standing on election night when she won a seat in Congress, she told the world her story started with her father's words. Now, as the first female governor of New York, she reinforces the lesson: there was no way she ever imagined this as a student. Dream big.

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