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Oscar-Winning Alumna Addresses UNH Class of 2014

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The University of New Hampshire celebrated commencement yesterday with an address from an Academy Award-winning alumna. 

Jennifer Lee, who wrote and co-directed the Disney animated film “Frozen,” focused on self-doubt during her speech.  She told the graduating class about growing up poor and bullied, and how that has caused her to struggle with self-doubt throughout her life.  Lee said she didn’t find success until she learned to banish doubt from her work. 

Although she told the new graduates that they should all remember they are “more than enough,” she added, “It’s not a free pass to get out of changing and growing!  No.  It’s just that when you are free from self-doubt, you fail better," Lee said.  "Because you don’t have your defenses up, and you can accept criticism and listen.  You don’t become so preoccupied with that failure, either, that you forget how to learn and how to grow.  When you believe in yourself, you succeed better.”

Lee graduated from U-N-H in 1992.  She won an Academy Award in March for Best Animated Feature.  With “Frozen,” she also became first female director with a film earning more than $1 billion.   

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