Despite heightened tensions on many university campuses this year, it is still graduation season, and that means politicians, actors and members of the NewsHour family have been doling sage advice and encouragement to graduates around the country. Here are some of the life lessons this year's commencement speakers passed on to the class of 2024.
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
Geoff Bennett:
Despite heightened tensions on many college campuses this year, it's still graduation season, and that means politicians, actors, and even members of the "NewsHour" team have been sharing advice and encouragement to graduates around the country.
Here are some of the life lessons this year's commencement speakers passed on to the class of 2024.
Bill Hader, Actor/Comedian:
I have never seen this many young people so thrilled to be on a JumboTron.
(Laughter)
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium: I want to create a world where, if aliens came to visit, they wouldn't look around and run back home and say, you know, there's no sign of intelligent life on Earth.
(Laughter)
Neil deGrasse Tyson:
Make decisions in the interest of our health, our wealth, our security, so that subsequent generations can look back on you, on us, and be proud of the decisions we have made and not ashamed of them.
Jen Psaki, Former White House Press Secretary:
Give your friends grace, your parents grace who are all out there, your future partners grace or current partners grace, and, most importantly, give yourself grace in these moments. You are all already resilient.
Rachel Accurso, Social Media Personality:
You don't need to wait for anyone else to show up. When you see a need, when you see an injustice, a way the world could be better, use the unique gifts and talents you have to serve the world. We don't know what will happen, but we guarantee nothing will change if we don't try.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT):
I would suggest that, instead of defining yourself by your career, that you choose to define yourself by things that are entirely in your control, your love for your family, your friendships, your faith, your service to others.
Zena Cardman, NASA Astronaut:
In times of uncertainty and discomfort, choosing optimism and humor can change your whole mood in an instant. More importantly, it can lift an entire group. The effect you have on others is one of your most potent gifts. Your impact on the world comes from small moments like that one, simple daily choices integrated over a lifetime.
Joe Biden, President of the United States: We don't know where or what fate will bring you or when. We also know we don't walk alone. When you have been a beneficiary of the compassion of your family, your friends, even strangers, you know how much the compassion matters.
Maria Ressa, CEO, Rappler:
In every relationship, in every negotiation, in order to move forward and accomplish anything meaningful, someone lowers their shield first, brings down their ego, the defense mechanism. Then others follow. Let that person be you.
Ken Burns, Documentary Filmmaker:
Choose honor over hypocrisy, virtue over vulgarity, discipline over dissipation, character over cleverness, sacrifice over self-indulgence.
David Brooks:
What a wise person says is the least of that which they give. What gets communicated is their way of being in the world in the smallest gestures and the daily acts of integrity and kindness. The message is the person. We grow by imitating people we admire, just as they grew by imitating a person they admired, back and back into the deep mists of time.
Jennifer Coolidge, Actress:
When I was growing up, shame and fear was all around me. We had to dress a certain way. We had to laugh a certain way. It was always, "Just be normal, Jennifer. Just be normal."
And I heard that so many times. Don't run from yourself like I did. You will lose decades. I promise you I did. Choose radical self-acceptance and compassion.
Ruth E. Carter, Costume Designer:
Life is like a movie. It's filled with plot twists, unexpected turns, and plenty of drama. Whatever path you have chosen, seek out the details that add color, pattern, and texture to your stories. Embrace your uniqueness and trust your voice. Continue to be unapologetically yourselves.
And in the words of Queen Ramonda, show them who you are.
(Cheering and applause)
Angela Bassett, Actress:
Life is not linear. You will experience detours on your journey. But just because something doesn't happen how and when you want it to, it doesn't mean you give up hope. It doesn't mean it's a failure. Instead, embrace it as a gateway to infinite possibilities.
Amna Nawaz:
You are not an untested bunch. You have proven yourselves time and again. You have risen to the challenges presented. And now it is time for you to rise again.
Neil deGrasse Tyson:
This is not a finish line. This is the starting line.
Thank you.
(Cheering and applause)
