Madeleine L’Engle, who passed away on Thursday, was the commencement speaker for my graduation from Wellesley College in 1991. Most people don’t remember who spoke at their graduation, even fewer remember what they said. But for a student like me who loved books, loved writing, and always felt outside the mainstream, L’Engle was an ideal speaker, one to remember. I’ve re-read her speech several times over the last fifteen years and as I grow older I find new themes to relate to. She spoke from her experience as an underrated student, a mother, a career woman, a grandmother, and someone who has learned that to grow you have to take risks, to learn from mistakes. “Nothing that’s easy is really worth very much, and just because it’s difficult is no reason not to try.”