Hello, class of 2015. I am so honored to be here today. Dean Khurana, faculty, parents, and most especiallygraduating students. Thank you so much for inviting me. The Senior Class Committee. It’s genuinely one of the most excitingthings I’ve ever been asked to do.
So I have to admit that today even 12 yearsafter graduation. I’m still insecure about my own worthiness. I have to remind myself today you’re herefor a reason. Today I feel much like I did when I came toHarvard Yard as a freshman in 1999.When you guys were, to my continued shock and horror,still in kindergarten. I felt like there had been some mistake thatI wasn’t smart enough to be in this company and that every time I opened my mouth, I wouldhave to prove that I wasn’t just a dumb actress.
So I start with an apology. This won’t be very funny. I’m not a comedian. And I didn’t get a ghost writer. But I am here to tell you today. Harvard is giving you all diplomas tomorrow. You are here for a reason. Sometimes your insecurities and your inexperiencemay lead you, too, to embrace other people’s expectations, standards, or values. But you can harness that inexperience to carveout your own path, one that is free of the burden of knowing how things are supposedto be, a path that is defined by its own particular set of reasons.
The other day I went to an amusement parkwith my soon-to-be 4-year-old son. And I watched him play arcade games. He was incredibly focused, throwing his ballat the target. Jewish mother that I am, I skipped 20 stepsand was already imagining him as a major league player with what is his aim and his arm andhis concentration. But then I realized what he wanted.
He was playing to trade in his tickets forthe crappy plastic toy. The prize was much more exciting than thegame to get it. I, of course, wanted to urge him to take joyand the challenge of the game, the improvement upon practice, the satisfaction of doing somethingwell, and even feeling the accomplishment when achieving the game’s goals. But all of these aspects were shaded by thelittle 10-cent plastic men with sticky stretchy blue arms that adhere to the walls. That-that was the prize. In a child’s nature, we see many of ourown innate tendencies.
So I have to admit that today even 12 yearsafter graduation. I’m still insecure about my own worthiness. I have to remind myself today you’re herefor a reason. Today I feel much like I did when I came toHarvard Yard as a freshman in 1999.When you guys were, to my continued shock and horror,still in kindergarten. I felt like there had been some mistake thatI wasn’t smart enough to be in this company and that every time I opened my mouth, I wouldhave to prove that I wasn’t just a dumb actress.
The other day I went to an amusement parkwith my soon-to-be 4-year-old son. And I watched him play arcade games. He was incredibly focused, throwing his ballat the target. Jewish mother that I am, I skipped 20 stepsand was already imagining him as a major league player with what is his aim and his arm andhis concentration. But then I realized what he wanted.
