Ellen DeGeneres returned to her hometown of New Orleans over the weekend to deliver a moving commencement speech to the 2009 graduates at Tulane University, aka the Katrina class.
The funny lady, dressed in a green gown, cracked up the audience dissecting commencement into "common" and "cement," before sharing her own story of tragedy before triumph.
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Ellen explained how the death of her girlfriend when she was just 19 led to her show business career, after she wrote a letter to God following the incident, something she set a goal for herself to read on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
And while success came eventually for Ellen β in the form of her own sitcom β after revealing she was gay on the show, Ellen recounted how she lost everything and how it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
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"I had no offers, nobody wanted to touch me at all, yet I was getting letters from kids that almost committed suicide, but didn't because of what I did, and I realized that I had a purpose, and it wasn't just about me and it wasn't about celebrity," Ellen told the graduates. "But I felt like I was being punished. It was a bad time, I was angry and I was sad and then I was offered a talk show and the people that offered me the talk show tried to sell it and most stations didn't want to pick it upβ¦ because they thought nobody would watch me. And really, when I look back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. It was so important for me to lose everything, because I found what the most important thing is β to be true to yourself, and ultimately that's what's got me to this placeβ¦ No matter what, I know what I am."
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Ellen peppered her speech with jokes and quotes, including ones from The Pussycat Dolls' tune "When I Grow Up," and Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." And she also suggested to the class, that their lives would change.
"By the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was, but I had no idea," Ellen said. "Like for example, when I was your age, I was dating men. So what I'm saying is when you're older, most of you will be gay."
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The funnylady concluded her remarks reminding the graduates that they have the skills to tackle life.
"Be true to yourself and everything will be fineβ¦You've already survived a hurricane, what more can happen to you. And as I said before, some of the most devastating things that happen to you will teach you the most," she said.
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