Tom Hanks calls new graduates the ‘chosen ones’ in this heartwarming speech

Tom Hanks is just the man to make us shed happy tears, so Ohio University did a stellar job in picking him as the commencement speaker for the class of 2020.

As far as speeches go, this one will hit you right in the feels, but let’s face it, we already saw it coming. The actor made an appearance on Saturday for the Ohio Wright State University Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures’ virtual graduation.

“I’m here to say congratulations,” Hanks said. “Congratulations to you chosen ones.”

“And I am calling you ‘chosen ones’ because you have been chosen in many ways. First, by the temperament and discipline you’ve lived by. By the creative fires that are inside of you. And the instinctive lunges of your desires. There is something about you — all of you — in your upbringing and your background and your conscious memories and your ongoing mysteries. Something that has driven you to complete your courses and achieve your selected challenges and cross the Rubicon of your time there.”

Hanks shared how the world would from here on define time in two parts, the first being a time before the coronavirus, and the second being life after this pandemic. He repeatedly congratulated students for succeeding in these trying times and encouraged them to celebrate all their achievements, no matter what the circumstances may be right now.

Watch the entire speech here: