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I have a confession to make: I’m a sucker for commencement addresses. I can’t really put my finger on why I love them so much. There’s something unique about the genre—celebrating the past while looking ahead to the future—that gives them an air of hope and truth. Plus, when done well, they combine cultural commonplaces with unique, individual narratives. Or maybe I just love them because I’m always in need of some good advice! So I’ve gathered for you below a few excerpts from this years’ batch of commencement addresses. Which of the following, if any, is your favorite and why? Do you like or dislike commencement speeches or advice-giving? What would you say if called upon to give a commencement speech? And what do you wish someone had said to you? If someone were to give you a “commencement speech” for right now in your life (whatever it is you would like to end, and by so doing, commence), what would you like them to say? Who would you chose to give this speech? 

Mary Barra, GM CEO, at University of Michigan: To stand out… to really make a difference… you will also need the kind of skills and qualities that most of us learn from experience and over time. Allow me to offer you half a dozen lessons that I have learned since my graduation… lessons that have been important to me… and hopefully will be to you.

Sandra Bullock at Warren Easton charter school in New Orleans: “What I tell [my] four-year-old is what I wish someone would’ve told me before I stepped out in the world and the first thing is, stop worrying so much, OK? Stop being scared of the unknown, because anything I worried about didn’t happen. Other stuff happened, but not what I worried about. The unknown we can’t do anything about, and I don’t remember any of the moments in my life where I worried. So that’s a lot of time I couldn’t get back. The second thing was, raise the bar higher. OK? It is noisy out there and for some reason, people want to see you fail. But that’s not your problem. That is their problem. I only remember the moments where I tried beyond what I thought I could do and I do not remember the failures because I didn’t. Nothing is a failure. It’s just not supposed to work out that way because something better is supposed to come along. The third thing we work on at home in the mornings is that we turn on the music really, really loud before we leave the house and the rule is you have to dance a little bit before you step out in the world because it changes the way you walk. It changes the way you walk out in the world. . . . When someone who cares about you hugs you, hug them back with two arms. Don’t do the one-arm hug, because when you hug with two arms, it allows you to lean on somebody and we always need someone to lean on.  And if someone doesn’t want to play with you, it’s OK. It’s OK. You know, not everyone’s going to love us. Go find somebody who does want to play with you and who appreciates what you have to offer. And last but not least is, go find your joy. Whatever that is, go find your joy. Are you going to have a good day or are you going to have a great day, because it’s completely up to you. It’s what you’re going to remember in the end.”

Elin Nordegren at Rollins College: Education has been the only consistent part of my life the last nine years.  And it has offered me comfort. Education is one thing that no one can take away from you.”

Bill Nye (the Science Guy) at UMass Lowell: “We are all part of the problem. . . . If [you] go into the world ready for change, change will happen, . . . Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t. … Respect their knowledge and learn from them. It will bring out the best in all of you.”

Jennifer Lee (director of Frozen—first female director of a Disney film) at University of New Hampshire: “When you are free from self-doubt, you fail better. You accept criticism and listen. If I learned one thing, it is that self-doubt is one of the most destructive forces. It makes you defensive instead of open, reactive instead of active. Self-doubt is consuming and cruel and my hope today is that we can all collectively agree to ban it. If you can learn to not take it personally, you’ll be able to listen to constructive criticism and find it inspiring. It might motivate you and show you that you are capable of far more than you ever imagined. . . . Please know, from here on out, you are enough and, dare I say, more than enough.”

Peyton Manning at University of Virginia: “Make the workplace a more civil place to be. You have the power to influence change in so many ways that have never existed before. Make kindness a priority, not a blurred line. . . . I challenge you: Show the world, by your actions, where the real sustainable value is. I’ll paraphrase your founder, Thomas Jefferson, who said, ‘If you want to know who you are, don’t ask. Act. Action will delineate and define you.’”

Sean Combs at Howard University: “No one’s gonna take you to the front of the line unless you push your way to the front of the line. . . . Make a decision today that when you’re in the darkness, you’ll remember the power of you. You are your own light.”

Ed Helms at Cornell University: “I’m here to tell you that good sense and judgment are highly overrated. . . . Please, remember to be a fool.”