Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Advice

Katie Couric spoke at Princeton's graduation recently (she was the first ever female speaker!) She took a minute to address the women in the audience and I love her advice so much I can't help but pass it on:

I'm sure you are all graduating with big career goals. You may also have a dream of being married and having a family, and at some point the career may take a backseat. There is no more challenging, rewarding or important job than being a mom. I just want to say this -- sometimes dreams of domestic bliss are interrupted by reality. People get divorced. People die. You need to protect yourself. I was very happily married to a wonderful man. He was diagnosed with colon cancer and nine months later, he was gone. I was a single mom with two very young children. This was not part of the plan. Luckily, I had a career and therefore the financial independence to support my children. Many women in my situation are not nearly as fortunate. And while I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, I want you all to be prepared for the unexpected and approach some of the big life decisions you'll be making with your eyes wide open.

Getting a good education and preparing for whatever may come your way is advice we need more often.

And because I first saw the quote on Entertainment Weekly's website where they used a headline with the phrase "single ladies" to introduce the story and now I can't get this song out of my head:



As a bonus you can practice your Portuguese as you watch/listen. Pin It

2 comments:

Heidi said...

It's always great when a person of stature in the world echoes the teachings of the prophets. We had a great speaker in sac mtg a couple of weeks ago who preached mightily of the importance of education and preparation. Hopefully many listened. Thanks for sharing! Love the advice, LOVE the song!

Nicole said...

We have a Jazzercise routine to that song too!

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