To the Class of 2021: Live Boldly & With Purpose!

This time last year, I was celebrating my daughter’s high school graduation. It was with enormous pride and a little unease that I watched her close one chapter of her life and open the next—one that I knew would be full of discovery and growth, but that was also overshadowed by the pandemic. A year later, we are not out of the pandemic, but the world is in a different and more hopeful place. And with commencements in full swing and summer officially starting, I wanted to share a personal message to the Class of 2021, as they begin their next chapter!

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Dear Class of 2021,

First and foremost, congratulations! Whether you’re graduating from high school or college, this is the culmination of years’ of learning, friendship, and personal growth. Take a moment to reflect on all that you’ve accomplished, as well as the new horizon ahead!

When you first started the school year, you never imagined living through a pandemic and a global shut down or remote learning. In short, you’ve made it through the one of the biggest global challenges that we’ve experienced in almost a century. Yet through it all, you have also gained resilience and strength that you can draw on for years to come. And as you look to the future, I want to share some of my biggest life lessons with you:

• Find Your Purpose. Your purpose is what motivates and excites you, and it will be the guiding compass for your life. I started my career as a lab scientist, but it wasn’t until I combined my interests in science and business that I found my calling, which led me to a career in healthcare. Sometimes you’ll discover your purpose working in a specific company or industry; other times, you may not know, which is why it’s so important to open yourself up to gaining a wide array of experiences and learnings. When you’re doing something that gives you both personal and professional fulfillment, you will thrive!
• Think Big—and then Bigger! In the last twelve months at Pfizer, I have learned that when you take words like “can’t” or “impossible” off the table, you can achieve things beyond your wildest dreams. If we had stuck to the status quo, we wouldn’t be here today with a COVID-19 vaccine. It was when we stopped saying “no” and started thinking “how,” that we had an opportunity to make the impossible possible. I will always look back on this as a profound experience that is bringing much-needed hope to people around the world.
• Stay Curious and Stay Agile. You can’t predict where life will take you, but you can develop an agile mindset that keeps you open to all kinds of different pathways. I didn’t set out in my career to become an executive, but was guided by my lifelong curiosity and desire to keep learning. That led me to take on many different roles—sometimes against the grain of conventional wisdom—and to discover skills I didn’t know I had!
• Treat Your Health Holistically. There will be many demands on your time, but don’t forget to do the things that replenish your health and keep you fighting fit—physically, mentally, and emotionally. For me that ranges from hitting the treadmill to taking my dog Sammy for a walk, or trying out something new like goat yoga! I also hold my friends and family close, as COVID taught us how important human connectivity and relationships are to sustaining our wellbeing.
• Be a Role Model for Equity. The last 18 months gave us an intimate and uncomfortable look at the inequities that exist in society, both locally and globally. They also led to powerful social justice movements that are helping us build a path to a more inclusive and equitable world. Looking ahead, I have hope that you—the next generation—will solidify this progress and continue pushing for a brighter future.

Lastly, I encourage each of you to think not only about your personal future but our collective future as a society. Every day you have the opportunity to influence the world around you for the better—so live boldly and with purpose, and bring others along as you move on and up!