 Jill Abramson, former New York Times editor, speaks at Wake Forest University 
 
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 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - In her first public appearance since her dismissal from The New York Times, former executive editor Jill Abramson compared herself to a new college graduate: "scared but also a little excited." When that happens show what you are made of,” she said. “Those messages are so appreciated.” 
 
 Abramson also referenced being “dumped” and “not getting the job you want.” 
 
 “Some students asked me, ‘Are you going to get that Times tattoo on your back removed,’” Abramson added later, referring to the “T” Magazine logo she has tattooed on her back. “Not a chance.” 
 
 But she also sought to deflect attention from her own news, focusing instead on the 1,880 Wake Forest graduates. “First of all, congratulations.” 
 
 “I’m impressed that your achievements have attracted so much media attention,” she added, later saying that “the little media circus” that’s been following her made her question delivering the address. Speaking of the Times, Abramson commended the paper’s journalism and said it was “the honor of my life to lead the newsroom.” 
 
 She also discussed her own future: “What’s next for me? I don’t know,” she said. So I'm in exactly the same boat as many of you," Abramson told the Class of 2014 at Wake Forest University's graduation ceremony Monday morning.
– Now that she's out at the New York Times, will Jill Abramson remove the tattooed logo of its "T" from her back? "Not a chance," she told students during a Wake Forest University commencement speech, which, Politico notes, was her first public appearance since her firing. "It was the honor of my life to lead the newsroom," she said. While she didn't offer details of her departure, she did use it as a model for graduate inspiration. "What’s next for me? I don’t know,” she said. "So I’m in exactly the same boat as many of you. And like you, I’m a little scared but also a little excited." As to that future, Abramson said she'd remain "very much a part of" journalism, Newsday reports. She also offered some advice from her father: "You know the sting of losing or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of."