Society
The Most Inspiring Celebrity Commencement Speeches of 2018
These speeches made us want to graduate again.
by : Ebonie Walker- Jun 20th, 2018
1. Mindy Kaling
Where: Dartmouth University
When: June 10, 2018
Best Advice: “Hey girls, we need to do a better job at supporting each other. I know that I am guilty of it too, we live in a world where it seems like there’s only room for one of us at the table. So, when another woman shows up we think ‘oh my god she’s gonna take the one woman spot, that was supposed to be mine!’. But that’s just what certain people want us to do. Wouldn’t it be better if we worked together to dismantle a system that makes us feel like there’s limited room for us? Because when women work together, we can accomplish anything! (Even stealing the worlds most expensive necklace from the MET Gala like in Ocean’s 8… a movie starring me which opens in theatres June 8)”
2. Oprah
Where: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
When: May 11, 2018
Best Advice: “Vote. Vote. Vote. Pay attention to what the people who claim to represent you are doing and saying in your name and on your behalf. They represent you and if they’ve not done right by you or if their policies are at odds with your core beliefs, then you have a responsibility to send them packing.”
3. Sterling K. Brown
Where: Stanford University
When: June 17, 2018
Best Advice: “Fear can be a great motivator, so long as it doesn’t overcome your desire to move forward. You have an opportunity and responsibility to leave this world better than you found it. And you do that, by being brilliant! By letting your light shine! And don’t worry about anybody else’s light. Don’t try to compare yours to anyone else’s. If you have found that thing, that purpose in life that gives you access to maximum enthusiasm, trust that!”
4. Hillary Clinton
Where: Yale University
When: May 20, 2018
Best advice: “Lean on each other. Look for the good wherever we can. Celebrate heroes, encourage children, find ways to disagree respectfully. We need to be ready to lose some fights because we will. As John McCain recently reminded us, ‘No just cause is futile even if it’s lost.’ What matters is to keep going. No matter what, keep going.”
5. Jimmy Fallon
Where: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
When: June 3, 2018
Best advice: “Take good care of yourself. Check in with yourself every day. Put your phone down, and be silent for a moment or two. And be kind, and think ahead, and have courage. Try new things. Remember the past, but don’t stay there. Honour your fellow humans. Keep laughing. Celebrate anything you can as often as you can — because it’s fun. Write letters and send them with a stamp in the mailbox. Try that. Say hello to people. Smile more often. Be kind to people who wait on your table, bag your groceries, move your furniture. And when you dance, dance from the inside.”
6. Amal Clooney
Where: Vanderbilt University
When: May 10, 2018
Best advice: “At a time where our politicians try to conflate the terms ‘refugee and terrorist’ and make us fear one another, we need courage. We need young people with the courage to say ‘this is our world now and there are gonna be some changes”
7. Queen Latifah
Where: Rutgers University
When: May 14, 2018
Best Advice: “You may not realize it today but you will over time that the love you find in family, of every size, shape and make-up is a powerful teacher. Make sure you stay enrolled in the class as long as you can”
8. Chance the Rapper
Where: Dillard University
When: May 12, 2018
Best advice: “I realized that all of us have a responsibility to be greater than the people who came before us. We have a responsibility to be … not as good as them, or live up to their example, but to actually surpass them, even when it seems scary. We have to overcome that fear and be greater than our role models.”
