Amy Poehler Gives Funny, Wise Speech to Harvard Grads [VIDEO]

Graduates of Harvard University were all in tears on Monday, but probably not for reasons that you’d expect. Parks and Recreation lead, Amy Poehler, delivered a graduation speech for 2011’s class, and her hilarious anecdotes left her audience crying with laughter.
The comedian and actress, who got her start on SNL, had this opening line for her speech:
“Friends, Romans, country men, lend me your beers.”
She also reminisced about the times she had in college.
“I tried to write today’s speech the way I wrote everything in college: I stayed up all night, typing on a Canon word processor while listening to Sir Mix A Lot,” she admitted.

However, she wasn’t all jokes. She offered this wise advice to the Harvard grads:
“Find people who challenge you, spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own….You’re all here today because someone gave you strength, held you in the palm of their hand.”
“I cannot stress enough that the answer to life’s questions is often in people’s faces. Try putting your iPhones down once in a while, and look in people’s faces. People’s faces will tell you amazing things. Like if they are angry, or nauseous, or asleep.”
“Take your risks now, as you grow older you become more fearful and less flexible — and I mean that literally. I hurt my knee on the treadmill this week — and it wasn’t even on.”
Poehler is not a Harvard Graduate, however, she jokingly told her audience that her Alma Mater, Boston College, is sometimes referred to as the “Harvard of Boston.”
As her humorously wise speech came to an end, she lent a hand to the grads’ parents.
“Would it kill you to be nicer to your parents? They have sacrificed so much for you and all they want is for you to smile and take a picture with your weird cousins. Do that for them. And with less eye-rolling, please.”

Via OK Magazine