Graduation season is an exciting time for students – hard work has finally paid off, and the anticipation of career success and achievement shines bright.
The most traditional and beloved aspect of the graduation ceremony is the commencement speaker and this year, four institutions did exceptionally well in selecting effective speakers for their graduates.
Read below for videos from four inspirational and motivating speeches from Chadwick Boseman, Oprah, Chance The Rapper and Hillary Clinton.
Chadwick Boseman – Howard University
“Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you”
Chadwick Boseman delivered an intimate and heartfelt commencement speech in front of the family, friends and graduates of his alma mater’s 2018 class. He opened by acknowledging the professors that impacted his life while at Howard and his experiences on campus. Boseman emphasized that Howard made him the man he is today because life in Hollywood wasn’t easy, but he has always been passionate for the things he believed in. “Howard’s legacy is not wrapped up in the money that you will make, but that challenges that you choose to confront,” he said. In the words of T’Challa, “HOWARD FOREVER!”
Oprah – USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
“You have the ability and the power to give voice…to people who desperately now need to tell their stories and have their stories told.”
Oprah, Oprah, Oprah.
USC’s School of Communication and Journalism could not have selected a better commencement speaker. Any speech Oprah gives will make you leave wherever you are feeling confident and ready to conquer all things that come your way. She touched on many important topics and encouraged the graduates to “pick a problem, any problem and do something about it.”
Oprah shed light on the problems in the world that she is most passionate about including gun violence, protecting the dreamers, prison reformation, the LGBTQ community and much more. The media mogul concluded her speech by passing on a few more especially useful life tips like eating a good breakfast, recycling, saying thank you and actually meaning it and putting the phone away when you’re at the dinner table.
Auntie Oprah has all the gems, okay!
Chance the Rapper – Dillard University
“We have to erase the fear and stigma behind eclipsing our heroes.”
Chance the Rapper definitely made all the blogs once he announced that Beyonce surpassed Michael Jackson in being the greatest performer of all time and that her Coachchella (Beychella) performance is the best performance of all time, but his speech was what the youth needed to hear. The Chicago rapper focused on living into your greatness without fear and said, “All of us have a responsibility to be greater than the people who came before us.”
Hillary Clinton – Yale University
“It’s not easy to wade back into the fight every day, but we’re doing it and that’s why I am optimistic because of how unbelievably tough Americans are proving to be.”
Former First Lady and former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, kept her commencement speech at Yale comical, but inspiring. During her speech, she touched on the many inequalities the world faces and stated that we should all “see the world through the eyes of people very different from ourselves and return to rational debate.” In reference to the black student that had police called on her while sleeping on campus, she said that “you don’t need to be a person of color to understand that when black students feel singled out and targeted, we still have work to do.”
Bookmark this page to listen to these moments when you need a recharge or positive word! Which speech was your favorite? Tell us your thoughts on Twitter @TVaspire!
