COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES (2)
Or, at least, that's the impression I get from her Dartmouth commencement speech.
Her Dartmouth speech, incidentally, has the same title as a hilarious book she's written about self-love, courage, and the beauty of taking risks:
'WHY NOT ME?'
This is a question and a message that went straight to my core, as a teenager plagued by niggling bouts of miserable self-doubt. I worry about not doing well. And, in the situation where I do do well, I worry about deserving my accomplishments.
Mindy's words are self-deprecating at times but in a flippant non-serious way. But every word she speaks—no matter how ridiculous it sounds—has a ring of truth to it.
She says, 'In general, advice isn’t actually an effective way to change your life. If all it took to make your life great was hearing amazing advice, then everyone who watched TED Talks would be a millionaire.'
Isn't that incredibly spot-on?
What left me rolling around helplessly in laughter, though, was this: 'So don’t trust any one story of how to become successful. As Madeline Albright said at my Commencement—see, I don’t remember anything. And I did just fine.'
And yes, I love commencement speeches and I remember what all those deeply moving speeches I've heard and read have to say.
But what about fifty, twenty or even five years from now. It's possible I'll remember bits and pieces of them. But it's even more likely that I won't recognize them at all.
Right now, I'm eighteen. I find myself in that aw-tiful (awful+beautiful) chasm that separates the blissful ignorance of youth and the harsh and cruel cold of reality. Right now I lean more heavily on the side of the blissfully unaware. Sure, I've faced and I am still facing a number of challenges. But, to a seventy-year-old woman my challenges are as challenging as a harmless scrape on the knee from boisterous play.
The point is, no matter what happens, or how hard things get you're going to be just fine.
Mindy says: 'My point is, 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! We’ve been waiting all this time for you to succeed!”
She continues, 'So, I’m giving you permission to root for yourself. And while you’re at it, root for those around you, too. It took me a long time to realize that success isn’t a zero-sum game. '
Isn't this oh-so-true?
And finally, remember this if not anything at all from the mouth of Mindy:
'Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, but especially not yourself. Go conquer the world. Just remember this: Why not you? You made it this far.'
SPEECH FROM: https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2018/06/2018-commencement-address-mindy-kaling-01
LATE NIGHT IS A VERY CURIOUS MOVIE THAT STARS MINDY. YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT ON NETFLIX,
MY COMMENCEMENT SPEECH: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YrCphMDjlyNSCMWfUyA-OrRdr5UBNIRZYmpLfe6CU5g/edit