E.L. Doctorow’s inspiring advice to grad students

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was an award-winning writer, editor, and professor whom Barack Obama described as "one of America's greatest novelists".

In 2011, four years before his death, Doctorow was invited to the Bronx High School of Science to give its graduates a commencement address. He’d attended the same top public school himself during the 1940s and had the following advice to share...

Be flexible. Expose yourself to the unfamiliar. If you’ve been studying pre-med, take a course in poetry. If you’ve majored in literature, explore cognitive science.

Your brain is hungry for all kinds of information. By delving into subjects beyond your comfort zone, your understanding of the world will flourish.

The point of a liberal education isn’t about pursuing distraction and detours. It’s about making sure that your dreams are put to good use.

The more we know, the more we realize how much there is still to learn. This is one of life’s great adventures.

Sometimes it can feel that for all the progress society is making, we’re failing in other ways – that our hearts aren’t quite keeping up with our brains.

Yet there is always hope that the next generation will make things better. There is always hope that you and your contemporaries will illuminate the great unknowns.

You may never hear it said, but this much is true: we’re all counting on that bright future. And you may not realize it, but there’s no doubt that your parents and teachers are proud.

“So be brave. Be kind. Take good care of yourself. And carry it on.”