--- description: Retired soccer star Abby Wambach delivered the commencement address to the Barnard College class of 2018 on Wednesday. This is what she said title: 'Make Failure Your Fuel.' Read Soccer Star Abby Wambach's Barnard Commencement Address image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb95c52042dfd9ce4/698930ad0a4a2202b49d2bd4/abby-wambach-barnard-commencement-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Commencement](/tag/commencement/) ## Commencement Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Make Failure Your Fuel.' Read Soccer Star Abby Wambach's Barnard Commencement Address  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2018 12:07 AM CUT  Honoree Abby Wambach attends the 32nd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner to benefit the Miami Project/Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis on Sept. 25, 2017 in New York City. Honoree Abby Wambach attends the 32nd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner to benefit the Miami Project/Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis on Sept. 25, 2017 in New York City.Mike Coppola/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2018 12:07 AM CUT Retired soccer star [Abby Wambach](http://time.com/3643799/avenging-abby-wambach/ "undefined") delivered the [commencement address](http://time.com/4327774/history-commencement-speech/ "undefined") to the Barnard College class of 2018 on Wednesday, speaking about the challenges in her career and her fight against the [gender pay gap](http://time.com/4578379/us-women-soccer-equal-pay-fight-60-minutes/ "undefined"). “Like all little girls, I was taught to be grateful. I was taught to keep my head down, stay on the path, and get my job done. I was freaking Little Red Riding Hood,” Wambach said, referencing the lessons of the fairy tale. “The message is clear: Don’t be curious, don’t make trouble, don’t say too much, or bad things will happen. I stayed on the path out of fear—not of being eaten by a wolf—but of being cut, being benched, losing my paycheck. If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: ‘Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood, you were always the wolf.'” “Barnard women, class of 2018, we are the wolves,” she said. Wambach — the world’s all-time leading scorer in soccer — helped lead the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team to victory in the 2015 World Cup, before announcing her [retirement from the sport.](http://time.com/4089561/abby-wambach-retirement-from-soccer/ "undefined") “Doesn’t it feel like the second you figure anything out in life, it ends and you’re forced to start all over again?” Wambach said Wednesday. “Experts call these times of life, ‘transitions.’ I call them terrifying.” Read Wambach’s complete remarks at Radio City Music Hall in New York City: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5281711/abby-wambach-barnard-commencement-2018-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5281711/abby-wambach-barnard-commencement-2018-speech/"},"headline":"'Make Failure Your Fuel.' 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