Ed Helms delivered a second commencement speech — this one at Cornell University, where his character Andy Bernard from The Office famously attended (and never stopped mentioning). His central thesis was a full-throated defense of foolishness as a life philosophy, building the entire speech around the refrain 'Be a fool.' Helms argued that the pressure to 'grow up' is really pressure to stop taking risks, stop experimenting, stop doing things that might not work out. But foolishness — trying things without guarantee of success, being willing to look ridiculous, following impulses that defy rational calculation — is where the best parts of life come from. The speech drew heavily on his own career: he had foolishly pursued comedy instead of a sensible career, foolishly taken the role of Andy Bernard on a show that was already struggling, foolishly invested years in seemingly pointless creative projects. Each foolish choice had opened doors he couldn't have predicted. 'When you try hard at everything you do, even if it feels utterly foolish to do so, you're opening up future doors and possibilities that you might not be seeing in the moment.'