Margo Chaly, J.D. '13, Tells Class of 2029: “Run Your Own Race”

Photo by Sean Sime

Drawing on her experience cheering runners through 5Ks and marathons, New Jersey Acting Secretary of Higher Education and Seton Hall Law alumna Margo Chaly encouraged the Class of 2029 to embrace the challenges ahead, run their own race, and keep their eyes on the finish line. 

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Before she became New Jersey’s acting secretary of higher education, Margo Chaly, J.D. ‘13 spent Saturday mornings on the side of a road, cheering on strangers running 5Ks and marathons. She would call out, “Your friends are still in bed,” offering exhausted runners a mix of humor and encouragement. 

That was the image Chaly chose to open her keynote address to the Class of 2029—and the metaphor she returned to throughout her remarks. “You wonder why you’re up at 6 o’clock in the morning, waiting in line, sometimes in the freezing cold, for the race to start,” she told the new students. “And then every step along the way, you’re questioning every decision you’ve made to get to that point.”
 
For Chaly, the comparison captured the reality of the first year of law school. A 2014 Seton Hall Law graduate, she reminded students that uncertainty and discomfort do not mean they have made the wrong choice. They are part of the course. 

Her own path was anything but predictable. A daughter of an immigrant, Chaly attended law school part time while working in the financial district, taking night classes and volunteering as a domestic violence on-call responder. The experience convinced her that she wanted to pursue immigration law and commit to it “fiercely and passionately.” 

It never happened. 

“Never, not once, not a second, not a single document,” did she work in immigration law, she said. “I didn’t even take an immigration law course when I was here.” 

Instead, her career took her through higher education and corporate America before leading her to state government. Her experience, she told the class, illustrates what a law degree provides: not a predetermined career path, but the ability to think critically, solve problems and adapt wherever the course leads. That lesson informed one of her central messages: Run your own race. 

In a race, she said, “you can spend the entire time thinking about everyone around you. Who’s ahead? Who’s behind? Who’s the fastest?” until “you forget why you started running in the first place.” 

Law school can create the same temptation to measure yourself against others. But every student arrives with different circumstances, she noted. “The person sitting next to you this morning may have a completely different background, life circumstances, family obligations and work commitments.” Chaly urged students to focus on their own progress rather than someone else’s pace. 

She offered similar advice about finding their voices in the classroom. Students should not hesitate to raise their hands because they fear being wrong, she said. If they are corrected, “nobody remembers, nobody cares.” If others were thinking the same thing, she said, their question could move the conversation in an entirely new direction. “Leave the hesitation at the door,” Chaly said. 

When law school becomes particularly difficult, she suggested another way to reconnect with the reason they began: Read the essay they wrote when they applied. “That essay captures the person who wanted this before it became difficult,” she said, recalling how she returned to her own application essay during her third year of law school. 

During a question-and-answer session, Chaly offered candid advice on classes, government service, networking and knowing when to say no. 

Asked about her favorite law school class, she named civil procedure because “there really was always a right answer”—a welcome feature, she joked, for someone who had long believed she “couldn’t do math.” 

Chaly also urged students to be intentional about how they spend their time. “A no is just as important as a yes sometimes,” she said. She encouraged them to choose organizations strategically and follow through on their commitments, noting that “your reputation already precedes you.” 

For students looking to build professional relationships, she offered a practical suggestion: Volunteer at the registration table at bar association events. It is a simple way to learn the names of people in the room and build connections, she said, while also gaining visibility that can matter when scholarship opportunities arise. 

Chaly brought the race metaphor full circle, reminding students that showing up is the first step toward the finish line. “Your friends are still in bed,” she told them. “You’re here. You chose this, and you showed up. We are all so very proud of you, and we cannot wait to celebrate you when you cross the finish line at graduation.”