Savannah Guthrietraded Rockefeller Center for the National Mall this weekend, delivering the George Washington University commencement speech in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
Speaking with PEOPLE before her big moment, theTodayco-anchor previewed the advice she wants to share with students: give the worrying a break.
“I try to think about what I wish someone had told me when I was their age or at that moment in my life, and my big message is not to worry so much; that they have goals, and they should have goals, but really, the journey is the whole purpose,” Guthrie, 47, told PEOPLE.
It’s a timely message for graduates, as anew study from UC Berkeleysuggests the “number of 18- to 26-year-old students who report suffering from anxiety disorder has doubled since 2008.”
“What you’re doing, the life you live, the company you keep, the friends you have and the things you learn along the way, that is the goal,” said Guthrie. “At some point, I say, ‘Your path is your purpose.’ And I really believe that. I’m all for setting high goals and just really trying to get after them, but I want them to feel good about whatever their path looks like.”
The way Guthrie sees it, the college graduates are “already on their way, they’re already doing what they’re supposed to do and they’re just where they’re supposed to be.”
GWU
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It was one of “those moments where you think, ‘It’s over, I’m all washed up, I’ve got nowhere to go,’ ” said Guthrie. “It’s what you do in those moments that ultimately determine your whole path.”
After moving back home and feeling embarrassed, “I started sending out those tapes again, trying to get a job again — and ultimately I did,” she said.
But Guthrie hit the reset button again “about five or six years into it,” deciding to quit her job and head to Georgetown Law, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2002.
Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty
Looking back on her own “twisty, zigzaggy” journey, Guthrie can’t help but laugh.
“If anything, my experience will show that you can get off your path, you can have a course that doesn’t look like it was planned at all — and you can still end up right where you wanted to go and right where you wanted to be,” she said. “Getting there is half the interesting part anyway.”
Guthrie’s advice has been years in the making, but she admitted to “working on this speech for months.”
“I feel a lot of pressure because I really want to give them a speech that will inspire them and be memorable,” she said. “I’ve probably written like 10 drafts of it, but at some point, you just have to turn in a final draft and hope it’s good.”
Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
She’s had some help along the way, especially fromhusband Michael Feldman, 50, with whom she shares daughter Vale, 4, andson Charley, 2.
“My husband has been my great helper and has read, I think, every draft of the speech,” she said. “He’s just a great encourager, but also has good ideas.”
With the preparation behind her, Guthrie said she was “excited” and “honored” to be part of the GWU graduates’ special day: “I love the idea of getting to share that moment with people who are just on the verge of really heading out into the world and going after their dreams.”
source: people.com
