A few days later I was at an event and a woman cornered me and she said, “You know what, I can’t believe that you’re doing this. This sends such a wrong message to women everywhere who really believe you can have it all. If you leave this job, you’re going to fail us all.” And I thought, “You know what, what is failure?” If I stayed, that would be failure. That would be sending out a message to people that is dishonest. I had to be true to myself, as hard as that was and as scary as that was, you’ve got to listen to the voice in your gut. It is individual. It is unique. It is yours. It’s called being authentic. There’s only one of you and maybe you’re not going to follow the path that other people would like to put you on, but that’s okay. You’re going to find the path that’s right for you.

Since 60 Minutes, I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff. People are looking at my career and going, “She’s schizoid.” I went from 60, then I did documentary work, then I did the talk show, The View. Then I did Millionaire. Now I’m on the Today show and Millionaire. I’ve got a combination of both. But I feel comfortable in my shoes. And what I find, and I find it a lot now at this show, when I talk to people out on the plaza, I’ve learned that as much as you reach forward for your dream, it’s important to never forget to reach out to those around you.

I can’t tell you the number of people who stop me and humble me by saying, “Thank you for doing what you do, thank you for being there every morning for me. Thank you for informing me, thank you for getting me through a sickness in my family when maybe you brought a smile to my face. Thank you for touching me. That is the greatest gift you can give anybody. That is so humbling to do that and so important.

Ultimately, I’ve interviewed presidents and I’ve interviewed poor people just trying to make it—I actually prefer the latter group, to be honest with you—what I’ve found is that all of us need to connect, we need to reach out to each other. It is the greatest gift that you can give to anybody and ultimately the most important gift of all.

You’re very special kids to be graduating from this school. I hope you know it. You’re here because you are leaders. You have a mission. You also have an internal compass in each and every one of you and I would urge you to listen to it. Follow that voice.

Someone much smarter than me once said, “Don’t go with the flow. You are the flow.” I think back to that streaking incident and about being out there naked and alone and the way all leaders will be but that’s when you’re tested. That’s when you find out who you really are. As for Barbara Walters and Star Jones, you want to know the truth? If you think I’m going to tell you, you have a lot more to learn than I thought, okay? But then that’s what life’s about, it’s about learning. Good luck, get out of here, and may you truly live every day of your life. Thank you.

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So maybe she didn’t dish about Star and Bar. But she sure made us remember those good old college days. If you’re going back to school, know someone who is, or you work in admissions, join the College Admissions & Test Prep group.

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