Stacey Abrams shared her career advice at Spelman College's commencement.
This week's newsletter is written by CNBC Make It work editor Hanna Howard. You can follow Hanna on Twitter @_hannahoward. Stacey Abrams is many things: a gubernatorial candidate (for the second time) in Georgia, a former state representative, an activist, and an author of both fiction and nonfiction. Just don't call her fearless. Over the weekend, Abrams returned to her alma mater, Spelman College, to deliver the commencement address and share some of her best career and life advice. Before going on to Yale Law School and the Georgia state legislature, Abrams was the student body president at Spelman and credits her time there with teaching her to go after what she wants. "When people ask me questions about what I want, I don't quietly duck my head or cover my mouth. If you ask me if I want to be the vice president, I say yes. You want to know if I want to be president, I say yes. … There are those who hear that in arrogance. But I was taught at Spelman College to be bold in my ambitions, to believe that I am capable of whatever I can imagine." |
My colleague Ashton Jackson detailed some of the biggest lessons Abrams imparted on the new graduates. On being "fearless": "For so many years, we have been told to be fearless. That is the dumbest advice I've ever heard. Fear is real. And it's usually a warning. It's a caution to not act but to understand what we're facing. I believe in embracing my fear. I take it out to lunch." On fighting for what's right: "Fear is healthy. It is caving into fear that's dangerous. You see, I'm not afraid of fighting against those who tell me that we can't have economic justice in America because they're wrong and I'm right. I'm not afraid of saying that we should all have the right to voice our opinions in our elections whether we agree with one another or not. I'm not afraid of these things because I understand why fear happens." On doing the work: "You're going to face a great deal of loss. But when we focus on not getting, we ignore what we have received … I stood for governor not because I wanted the title, but because I said I wanted to do the work. And when I didn't get the title, I still had the work to do. I wasn't exempted because I didn't get the platform. This is a lesson I learned at Spelman. That not getting everything you want doesn't mean you got nothing from it. I learned my lesson that it was enough to try if I was willing to try again and try again and try again." Share your thoughts with us at askmakeit@cnbc.com |
|
|
More articles from Closing the Gap |
|
|
U.S. Soccer Federation and women's team announce equal pay deal: 'This is truly a historic moment' |
On Wednesday, the U.S. women's national soccer team reached a first-of-its-kind deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation that closes the gender wage gap and ensures equal pay with the men's national team. |
|
|
Janet Yellen: Overturning Roe v. Wade would be 'very damaging' to the economy, women |
"I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week. |
|
|
How grief and burnout pushed this 27-year-old to follow her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore: 'This was a pipe dream' |
When Lucy Yu was 7 years old, she told her mom she wanted to retire and open a bookstore one day. Now, at 27, Yu is living that retirement dream as her full-time job. In December, she opened Yu and Me Books in Manhattan's Chinatown, New York City's first Asian American woman-owned bookstore. |
|
|
|
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar