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Good morning President White, Provost Baker, honored guests, parents, family and friends, and most of all, the Class of 2008. Congratulations on your graduation. I applaud your achievement, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of this ceremony.

I am honored to speak here today. Although I have to admit, I was surprised by the invitation. Don’t astronauts or senators usually get asked to deliver this kind of address? Weren’t you at least expecting someone…older standing here this morning?

I find it a challenge to dispense sage advice to the youth of today, as I somehow still consider myself to be the youth of today!

That being said, the benefit of feeling like a relatively new driver on the road to life is I still have a clear recollection of what I wanted to know when I was graduating, which was…what on Earth do I do now?

Up it until then, the expectations had been relatively clear…go to school, graduate. More school, graduate again.

Now that your road is a little more uncharted, here are three pieces of advice I wish someone had passed along to me. I’d have more for you; but I’m not even 40 yet. If I get invited back when I’m 60, I’ll have more.

But for now, here is piece of advice #1…Be persistent.

I know I should probably be advising you how to get a job—preferably one with a big salary. But finding the right job is only half the battle.

When I sat in your seat I received a degree from the College of Business. Shortly after, I was offered a very secure and relatively well–paid job at a bank. But I loved computers, so instead I chose a job as a “marketing researcher” (read: telemarketer) at an up–and–coming company called Microsoft.

Now my salary was somewhere around the poverty level. And quite frankly, it was a tedious job. But, I took a gamble on Microsoft because I loved their vision.

Three short months later, my department was outsourced, and I was out of a job. I felt like a failure already, only three months out of college. And for a few tense days, having chosen passion over job security seemed like a pretty big mistake.

But I stuck with the company, interviewed again, and that early job loss turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to me.

I was hired in a more central part of the company, and all of a sudden I was surrounded by the best and brightest marketers at Microsoft. These were really smart young people from Harvard, Stanford, and many with MBAs from Wharton. And they were all doing the same thing I was doing, which was trying to increase the feeble 7 percent market share of our little spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel.

I have to say I became pretty impressed with the education I received here at Idaho when I realized I could compete with these graduates from Ivy League universities. Not only compete, but later manage, and hire them, too.

You should know that you also already have all the skills you need to compete with anyone from your time here at Idaho. And as a bonus, your student loans will take much, much less time to pay back than those of my Harvard friends.

Now, I loved this new job. But as exciting as it was, it was also tough–even overwhelming at times. I was often stretched to the limit of my abilities. But, I kept pushing myself. And I found learning at such a rapid rate–figuring things out as I went along– to be absolutely exhilarating. I realized that for me, happiness was directly tied to a very steep learning curve.

So graduates, take the time to find out what exhilarates you. When you feel like you would work for free, this is the right job. I have one friend who graduated in biochemistry but is now working as a successful writer. Another who studied anthropology but is now a top education visionary. Don’t take your degree as an edict—unless you want to, of course. It may take 12 jobs, but find what you love. Persist.

And once you find that role, strive for more than you think you are capable of accomplishing. Your diploma might get your foot in the door, but it will be your perseverance, your ability to push your own limits, that will ultimately determine your success once you get there.

So now we come to the piece of advice #2…Get a sense of humor.

Because let me tell you, you are going to need it. Each and every one of you will struggle at some point; and each will make mistakes. There is just no getting around this…even for you overachievers out there. And it is in these times that you need your sense of humor.

And by the way, if you are not making mistakes, you are probably not learning.

One of my most memorable mistakes happened to involve my first face–to–face meeting with Bill Gates. I was excited to meet him. I couldn’t wait for my chance to make a good impression. But as it turned out, this meeting involved a lot of yelling…and that yelling did not come from me.

It was at a rehearsal for a huge presentation during Comdex, which is a big computer tradeshow. Just to set the scene, Bill was also being shadowed by a camera crew for an NBC special. He was on stage reviewing a demo of a new version of Excel. Truth be told, I thought all was going extraordinarily well, when all of a sudden there was a lot of hand–waving from his staff and I was summoned to the stage.

Now, Bill is quite famous for being, shall we say, “expressive” when he doesn’t like something…and he HATED this presentation. He absolutely hated it.

So there I am, standing toe–to–toe with my idol for the first time, and he is red–faced and shouting. Meanwhile, there is a microphone boom dangling between us, and I am practically blinded by a white–hot light from the camera. Bill’s voice jumps up an octave or two and out of the corner of my eye I can see Tom Brokaw visibly perk up. I can’t remember most of what Bill said, but I do know for certain it included the phrase, “this is the stupidest presentation I have ever seen. “

Meanwhile, I am absolutely dumbstruck. I am unable to respond intelligently because I am having some sort of out of body experience. I felt as if I were floating somewhere above that exchange, thinking the most absurd things, like, “Bill is shorter than I thought. He needs to shave. Am I going to be fired? If so, will my parents be able to view this glorious moment on national television?"

Later, as I retold this story to my husband over the phone, it was such a relief to be able to laugh at the prospect of my shining moment memorialized forever on film. No TV sitcom could have fabricated a more classic “deer in the headlights” moment.

Needless to say, we made significant changes to the presentation. I was not fired. I didn’t even appear in the TV segment, and had many later opportunities to make a better impression in front of Bill. I doubt he even remembers the exchange.

But I always remember that absurd out of body moment with the film crew and livid Bill Gates when other events in my life have gone awry. It cracks me up every time. It reminds me that it is not such a bad thing to view yourself from what I call the “sitcom perspective.”

Learn from your mistakes and apply them to new situations–certainly. That being said, you’ll get through those mistakes a lot easier if you can learn to laugh at yourself along the way.

And, it will probably save you a trip to the therapist.

Finally, piece of advice#3. The most important advice…Get a life.

It is easy to get lost in a job you love, but my perspective changed dramatically when my daughter was born.

I was overwhelmed with the responsibility, and my job skills did not exactly translate. There was no management tool to apply, no business model to guide the way. And I learned very quickly that babies have absolutely no respect for the chain of command.

That being said, having a new member of the family gave me the opportunity to reflect on how I was spending my time. I was 30, and I realized that although I had lived in Seattle in the 1990s, I had missed the entire “grunge” movement. I never attended a Nirvana concert. I never even owned a flannel shirt!

I had reached a place in my career where I was comfortable and well–rewarded, but I had the inkling that there was just more out there for me to experience.

My husband and I both realized we wanted more time to focus on learning new things, enjoying time with our family and getting involved in our community. And we wanted to do it before our 30s passed us by.

But, making a significant change to our lifestyle would be a somewhat risky move. It would require some tradeoffs, and I truly struggled with the decision to leave a job I loved—one that had become my identity.

In the end we both took the leap away from a traditional work structure to one that would give us more flexibility. And as result we have had the time to do more of things, big and small, that make life rich: traveling, taking classes, bringing public art to our community, coaching girls soccer, painting carnival backdrops, bringing meals to a friend with cancer, learning to surf. These have been some of the most fulfilling, creative, fun years of my life… eventually leading to a small–business in art consulting, another passion of mine.

The secret here, graduates, is this, and listen carefully because it took me a long time to figure this out, but you are not your resume.

Give yourself permission to take the time to explore the “you” outside of work, to develop yourself as a whole person. Take the time to enjoy those you love, and to nurture your passions…be it for art history or archeology. Don’t let the opportunity for lifelong learning pass you by.

Unlike college, life is something to be experienced, not graduated from. There is no single path to success. Each of you has to build the portfolio of your own life experiences each day, each year, each decade.

So, in closing, why do my three pieces of advice revolve around struggle, mistakes, and hard choices? Because it turns out, this is actually the good stuff in life. When it feels like you are struggling, you are learning. And learning is what makes life fun.

Looking back, I realized my happiest moments have been when the learning curve was steep, and I had absolutely not a clue what to do. Don’t be afraid to try for more than you think you are capable of accomplishing. Choose the struggle. Choose to strive higher than you think you can reach in that moment.

Now, some of you are relieved that you have already secured a job or have been accepted at a graduate school. Some of you out there (and your parents) are worrying about what you will do next. And at least six of you are thinking about how you can hijack the corn–powered trolley down to the Corner Club during this ceremony. But all of you have the chance to choose the struggle and enjoy the ride. Even if it is only down Main Street.

I have one final thought for you today. Whenever I was struggling, my father always said, “Kirstin, remember that you are responsible for your own happiness.” I interpreted that to mean that I had a dual responsibility to discover what brought me happiness, and to find out a way to make that happen. I extend that same challenge to you.

And don’t worry if you don’t figure it out in the first year. I’m still working it out. In fact, done right, it is something you work on each day of your whole life. Now get out there, and do it.