I was honored to give the graduation speech on behalf of my class at Wellesley College. During the speech, I referred to a conversation that I had with a friend's mom, who said that she wouldn't want to be me for anything in the world because she was afraid of what she saw the future to be. In the speech I said, "Fear is always with us, but we just don't have time for it. Not now." The words still feel true to me today. The speech proved to be another life lesson in another way: It was my first exposure to lots of media attention. The reaction to the speech was divided between overly effusive and exceedingly negative. Those accolades and attacks turned out to be a preview of things to come.

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