Stephen Colbert to UVA: "You must always make the path for yourself"

The comedian delivered a funny and uplifting speech to the Class of 2013

Published May 20, 2013 3:21PM (EDT)

Addressing UVA's Class of 2013, recent college graduate and valedictorian Stephen Colbert encouraged students to keep their cell phones on. "I wouldn't want any of you to miss a text or a tweet while I'm giving my speech."

In between reminiscing about his experiences at all-boys Hampden Sydney College (and "marrying a UVA girl"), sharing SAT vocabulary words and sending out a tweet, Colbert doled out some advice:

I don't know if you've seen it -- this week's Time Magazine called you "lazy, entitled narcissists," who are part of the "Me, Me, Me" generation. So self-obsessed — tweeting your Vines, hashtagging your Spotifys and Snapchatting your YOLOs — your generation needs everything to be about you. And that's very upsetting to us Baby Boomers because self-absorption is kind of our thing.

But, Colbert explained, while his generation is leaving grads "with fewer job opportunities," it's giving them a hard-learned lesson earlier in life: "that you must always make the path for yourself."


By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

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