Kantor, a noted Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, urged students, against all odds, to strive to be authors of their own career choices.
In preparation for her address, she did what every competent journalist does: she interviewed many of the seniors of the graduating class of 2025 and found so many felt that their educations were marked by facing one crisis after another (covid caused sequestration and social distancing as they entered the campus in September 2021 and then as juniors in May 2024, the NYPD cleared the campus which was then closed down.)
Kantor continued: “You asked how can you stop feeling tossed around by storm winds building fulfilling careers and reestablishing yourselves as authors of your own lives.”
She recounted her own excruciating experience while writing for the Columbia Spectator
and how she was “kicked off’ along with another writer after the latter accused her of harassment-- as the story was published as front page news. Her hopes and aspirations to become a journalist were instantly and seemingluy irrevocalbly dashed.
Two years down the line, she began law school thinking that would be a satisfying career for her. But one night at 3 AM during her first year, she had an epiphanic experience in which realized she really wanted to be a journalist– “being in the text of a document flipping words around.” So, she abruptly decided to change careers and dropped out of Harvard Law School.
"That was the moment I became the author of my own life.”
Well, the rest is history as you watch her entire 20 minute address on tape and listen to the introduction delivered by the 2025 Class President, Rohan Mehta. (click here)
(Not a day goes by in her career that she does not go from existential crisis to existential crisis.)
Don’t sell yourself short, she continued. She urged students to carry a small memo pad and for the first few months to jot down on a daily basis which actions you like and which you dislike.. Write down personal reactions to people you meet. Be honest with yourself and avoid putting the monetary rewards as the sine qua non in your choices. “Do not just do the most lucrative thing. Do not blur the distinction between meeting financial stability and craving enormous wealth.”
She concluded her exhortation with a suggestion that as you choose your career keep in mind two major considerations: Need and Craft. Choose avenues that have great needs and balance that with your own skills to craft the changes you wish to bring about. “Remember you are not statistics or political props in anyone’s play.”
If you wish to see the entire Class Day Graduation Ceremony from the Parade of Students and the Parade of Alumni, including presentation of all awards and speakers, click here.