So, it's graduation season, my favorite. And today, I'm celebrating every single member

of the class of 2023. Everyone who is graduating and everyone who loves graduate. This is such

a thrilling, overwhelming, inspiring, and sometimes scary time. And we are thinking of you.

In honor of all you've endured and accomplished and all the promise and hope you're bringing out

into the world you will create. I'm sharing with you the message I gave to the graduating class

of Loyola Merrimont University, a Catholic University. In it, I finally speak up for my little

Catholic gay girl self and for all who have felt unsafe or unvalued in the places they deserve

to feel most safe and valued. I got pretty emotional at the response. I hope it might bring you

or the little self in you some inspiration today. And share this with all the graduates you are

celebrating this month or anyone who needs a little encouragement to keep doing hard things.

Congratulations, graduates, and families. We love you.

Abby Wombach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion, six-time winner of the

U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year Award, a national soccer Hall of Famer, and has been named one of

the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. Abby's professional soccer career

is without equal. She is still the highest all-time goal scorer for the U.S. national team,

the lead scorer in two World Cup tournaments and has more World Cup goals than all other U.S.

players. At the time of her retirement in 2015, she was the highest score in the world for women

and men with 184 goals. That's only part of Abby's story. Her impact extends well beyond the field.

She has leveraged her prominence to advocate for and advance social justice causes that are

consonant with LMU's mission. Seeking to create the world we want to live in, Abby is an activist for

equality, pay equity, diversity, and inclusion, and serves on the DEI Council for the U.S. Soccer

Federation. She is on the board of directors for Together Rising, a program that has revolutionized

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