To begin with, I vaguely remember people being kind of ambivalent about the selection of Lisa Kudrow as our speaker to begin with (my freshman and sophomore year roommate OM thought Hilary Clinton should do the honors, but then again, in almost Chuck Norris fashion, she thought Hilary Clinton was the answer to pretty much any problem - which was funny because a big group of us thought OM was our own version of Chuck Norris. She is one of the few people I´ve met that I can really label as being Badass. The other is M. M is super badass.). I liked the idea of it. Except for the fact that I didn´t realize that I would be getting my diploma in front of 4000 people and 2 very famous, very incredible actresses. My worries on commencement day were limited to frizz control, the zipper in my dress that wouldn´t zip, and not tripping in front of Meryl Streep and Lisa Kudrow. I failed on the first two accounts but thankfully succeeded in the third.
Anyways, I think the speech was very good and had some great pearls of wisdom for both us (the soon-to-be grads) and our parents. My parents really enjoyed it as well - my dad (a university educator by profession who has seen his fair share of commencement addresses) thought it was one of the best he had ever heard. But the best thing about it is that I fully credit Lisa Kudrow (and her speech) for really turning my parents around on the whole film thing.
Her words were:
¨By November of 1985, I declared that I would pursue acting. My parents and family were thrilled for me and that was the first and most important, wonderful show of support I got. (Look at parents) My parents and family were thrilled, THRILLED. Truly. My Vassar friends were shocked, SHOCKED but supportive and polite. I . . .was terrified, and not because I didn't think it would work out — I was weirdly confident...for no reason at all — but because this didn't exactly feel like it was a choice as much as succumbing to a compulsion, and I didn't analyze what led me to this point, whether it was divine intervention, or a lapse in judgment or sanity, I just listened to that inner voice.¨
My parents actually took her advice. They stopped (for the most part) telling me to go into something practical and provided emotional and financial support to establish my own film production company. They were also they financial backers of several business trips to film markets around the world.
If I ever meet Lisa Kudrow, please remind me that I owe her a huge huge huge hug and a very big thank you.
Here´s the full address for your viewing pleasure:
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