Commencement Archive

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№ 2014.006  —  City Colleges of Chicago  —  Commencement address

Sheryl Sandberg

Field: business

Transcript

In her 2014 commencement address at City Colleges of Chicago, Sheryl Sandberg congratulates graduates—many the first in their families to earn a degree—and shares three pieces of advice for achieving their potential: believe in yourself and overcome self-doubt, break big dreams into small manageable steps while asking for help, and recognize that the world needs them to change it toward greater equality. She draws on personal anecdotes about self-doubt, learning a software program at her first job, and skiing to illustrate her points, and closes by urging graduates to ask themselves what they would do if they weren't afraid.

Key moments

  • 01 Celebrating first-generation graduates and the role of education in lifting families
  • 02 Urging students to believe in themselves and 'sit at the table' despite self-doubt
  • 03 Advising graduates to break big dreams into small steps and ask for help
  • 04 Calling on graduates to create a more equal world and become the 'Lean In Generation'

Transcript

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Provenance

Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB

NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording