commencement speeches

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Commencement Advice Is Mostly That You Should Break Up With Your College Girlfriend

If you were hoping that Lin-Manuel Miranda would drop a few rhymes during his commencement address at UPenn, you will be sorely disappointed to learn that the only bars came from University Provost Vincent Price. (This is not to slight Price, his rhymes are actually pretty good.) But if you were hoping for some heartfelt life advice, Miranda is here for you. “Every story you choose to tell by necessity omits others from the larger narrative,” he told the graduates. That was mostly an apology for leaving the great state of Philadelphia out of Hamilton, but it’s also good advice in general, like when you have to face down bad advice from a producer on your Broadway show In the Heights. Oh, wait? Is that not relatable? Then maybe you can take Miranda’s other suggestion, which is that you should break up with your college girlfriend. Yeah, don’t be the Roy to your girlfriend’s Pam. Listen to the certified genius. (Miranda’s appearance begins around 2 hours and 30 minutes into the video above.)

Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Commencement Address