Stay inspired. Two words, four syllables. The best advice I’ve ever gotten about life in the real world.

My four years here have left me with a fiery idealism and burning restlessness to approach this canvas we call earth and beautifully paint a piece of it. I hope your education has done the same. I also hope that you take that vivacious excitement with you and grasp hold of it, even against the poisons of dullness and monotony.

There is so much stimulating, exhilarating, compelling work ahead of us all. But the terrifying taboo of post-college adulthood is that none of that work will always be stimulating, exhilarating or compelling. There will be days when we have to enter data into spreadsheets, or fill out reports, or pick up groceries or do any number of the banal tasks that are the price of admission to real world independence. It is at those moments, when maybe your eyes are strained from your computer screen or you get home from work hungry and wishing you still lived near a quasi-assisted-living facility, that I hope you rekindle your inspiration.

We know how to find inspiration in college. We seek friends who love to converse about our common curiosities and who can prod us into our potential; we learn from professors who infect us with their passions; we imbibe books or speeches that ignite our interest; sometimes we just look up at our breathtaking campus and think about what an accomplishment it was for us to be invited in.

So my challenge and prayer for us is to discover new inspirations after we depart. Maybe it’ll be a quote taped to your bathroom mirror that reminds you why you chose your field. Maybe a photo from a moment of unstoppable triumph. Maybe a book, a note, a place—find and keep it in front of your eyes and heart.

As for me, I have chosen politics—a realm notorious for hardening people into cynics who forget why they picked that path. I chose it because I care about creating a more equal, democratic world—and I’ll be looking for means to remind myself, starting with perhaps David Foster Wallace’s Kenyon College commencement address or my favorite familial saying, “Give more than you get,” or probably a few “West Wing” episodes. And of course, everything I learned here about leadership and service, as well as the encouraging, enlightening, cherished friendships—I’ll be taking those too.

So finally, to all those who have challenged, motivated and inspired me here, thank you and best of luck. I am excited to see what we make of ourselves.