Yesterday, Kerry Washington returned to her alma mater, George Washington University, to thunderous applause. The Scandal star delivered the commencement address sharing nuggets of wisdom and even revealing a few things about herself—she’s cousins with Colin Powell!
“I know what some of you are thinking,” she said at the top of her speech according to the Washington Post. “You’re thinking, ‘We’re celebrating our academic and intellectual achievement with that lady who’s having an affair with the president on that TV show?'” The crowd immediately responded by chanting her name and saying “We love you, Kerry!”
The 1998 GWU grad, who received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree, told the college graduates a personal tale where she was challenged with playing a frog in the university’s production of Croak: The Last Frog. “I pushed past my comfort zone,” said Washington. “It became a role that transformed my way of thinking about how I use my body to do what I do every single day.” She suggested that the graduates rely on their problem-solving skills to become “heroes of our own lives.”
Check out Washington’s inspiring speech above.