Life-Changing Advice From "Nerds" Who Made It Big

Embrace your inner nerd, but do it with empathy. This was the message the Microsoft founder and his wife, Melinda, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, had for Stanford's newest graduating class. Bill and Melinda proved that they were the cutest power couple ever when they both donned geek glasses in front of the class of 2014.

But their silly prop had serious meaning: change the world with optimism and empathy (making an app like Snapchat, which has Stanford alum founders, probably doesn't count).

"In the course of your lives, without any plan on your part, you'll come to see suffering that will break your heart. When it happens," Melinda said, "don't turn away from it. Turn toward it. That is the moment when change is born."