Thank you for the grace and resilience that you have shown in these daunting times. You are entering our profession at a tipping-point moment where our shared responsibilities and collective pain have made even clearer that we do not live only for ourselves. We are connected to each other, and what we do for others we do for ourselves. There is power and possibility in that collective recognition. Use it to narrow the space between what is and what ought to be, when equal access to justice finally is made available to all.

Your emerging proficiency has been hard-earned. Use it to transform the world as you find it into the world that you wish for it to be. You have been vested with a fortitude of heart (your goodness is known) and a mightiness of intellect. You will use both to do well and, even more essentially, to do good. In that pursuit, do not confuse small with insignificant. Every act of decency and generosity matters. Never underestimate how far even a little kindness can go.

Generously give the benefit of the doubt. Presume the best in others even when they are not showing you their best. It is there, but sometimes you must dig a bit deeper to find it. Know that people will meet you at your level of expectation for them. So will our profession. An optimist will always find reasons to believe. The cynic will most assuredly find reasons to be sure that people are awful, and the world is a dreadful place. Except that they aren't, and it isn't.

Do not succumb to cynicism. You have too much courage for that. Cynicism is cowardice disguised. Persist in believing that the best is yet to be. What I know for sure is that if you have anything to do with it (and you do), it is.

In a world fraught with uncertainty, remember that you remain in charge of two things: your focus and how you treat others. Your focus is yours alone. Do not give it away randomly or indiscriminately. Resist the lures of the fame-chasers and the frivolous.

Treat everyone with respect. You are no better than and no less than anyone else. Everyone has a story to tell, everyone has their burdens to bear and everyone has something to teach you. The hardships of your own lives do not relieve you of the responsibility to see others in theirs. Use your training to relieve suffering, wherever you find it. As lawyers we are uniquely situated to answer the call for relief. Say yes to the call to service. It is the surest path to both success and significance.

If you send up no other exhortation to a compassionate universe, let it be "use me." Ask to be found where your abilities might meet some of the world's great need.

Practice relentless gratitude. A grateful heart does not have much room for the lesser instincts.

Be thankful for every yes and thankful for every no. Trust that what is for you will always find its way to you. Everything else will fall away.

Remember that you stand on the shoulders of all who came before you. Love them, remember their traditions and honor their legacy. Your parents, grandparents and their parents before them sacrificed, persisted and transcended so that your path might be easier. Their heroism is a part of your magnificent story, and the rest still unwritten.

Thank you for being hope-givers and Light-workers for a world very much in need of both. I am grateful that you have joined the ranks of our beloved profession. I am cheering for you.

Paula A. Franzese is Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School in Newark.