I Was Told Not to Attend My Sister’s Yale Graduation Because I Wasn’t Good Enough Until I Returned as the Speaker

about Dr. Sterling by name. I talked about what genuine mentorship looks like as opposed to conditional affection. I talked about the empty chair and how you stop waiting for someone to offer you a seat.

“True excellence,” I said near the end, “does not require an audience that was present for the struggle. It only requires that the work was real.”

The continue reading …