MINDY KALING WAS back at her old college Dartmouth dishing out advice to the graduating class. The Ocean’s 8 actress gave a 17 minute speech which was packed with laughs as well as some genuinely helpful bits of advice.
First off, remove ‘Proficient at Word’ from your resume. That is ridiculous. You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel of competency there. This is how you become proficient at Word: You open Word on your computer.
Cue everyone scrambling to remove ‘proficient at Word’ from their CV. You leave Excel there at your own peril. Nobody is proficient at Excel.
As well as good CV tips, Mindy also spoke honestly about how she found being a single mother.
Being a single mother can be a scary prospect and Mindy was pretty candid in her speech about how she felt at first about being one.
After my daughter was born in December, I remember bringing her home and being in my house with her for the first time and thinking, ’Huh, according to movies and TV, this is traditionally the time when my mother and spouse are supposed to be here sharing this experience with me.′ And I looked around, and I had neither.
Mindy’s daughter Katherine was born in December and she has not revealed publicly who the father is. As well as that her mother who was an OBG/YN died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer.
But then, that feeling went away, because the reality is, I’m not doing it by myself. I’m surrounded by family and friends who love and support me. And the joy I feel from being with my daughter Katherine eclipses anything from any crazy checklist.
She wanted to reassure students that doing things which some people perceive as being in the wrong order is absolutely fine.
So if I could impart any advice, it’s this: If you have a checklist, good for you. Structured ambition can sometimes be motivating. But also, feel free to let it go.
She also told them that having dessert before breakfast is also find which I believe allows us to eat ice cream for breakfast. Very Kelly Kapoor advice indeed.
She finished up with some nice, inspiring words.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, but especially not yourself. Go conquer the world. Just remember this: Why not you? You made it this far.
Hell yeah.
