Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned graduates at Springfield College that no matter how much planning they do, they won't be able to prepare for every twist and turn coming their way.
"You can't predict it all," said Warren, according to a release from the Springfield, Mass., college. "People will tell you to plan things out as best you can. They will tell you to focus. They will tell you to follow your dreams. They will all be right."
Warren, the college's 2013 commencement speaker, addressed graduates at the MassMutual Center on Sunday. The private college awarded 1,607 degrees over the weekend, The Republican in Springfield reports. Warren herself received an honorary doctor of humanics degree.
In her speech, the first-term senator emphasized unpredictability of life.
"Never be so faithful to your plan that you are unwilling to consider the unexpected," Warren said. "Never be so faithful to your plan that you are unwilling to entertain the improbable opportunity that comes looking for you. And never be so faithful to your plan that when you hit a bump in the road -– or when the bumps hit you -– you don't have the fortitude, grace and resiliency to rethink and regroup."
Earlier in her career, Warren taught at several law schools, including the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. Prior to running for the U.S. Senate, she oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program, worked to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and was an assistant to the president in the Obama administration. She insisted in her speech that she had never intended to run for office, according to WSHM.
"If you do not believe me," Warren said, "try to find a political consultant who will tell you that the best way to get elected to a national office is becoming a professor or tangling with bank CEOs."
Related
Before You Go
