''I didn't really have a plan. My point is, by the time I was your age, I thought I knew who I was. But I had no idea. 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! .... The way I ended up on this path, was from a very tragic event. I was, maybe, 19, and my girlfriend at the time died in a car accident. And I passed the accident, and I didn't know it was her, and I kept going.... I started this path of stand-up, and it was successful, and it was great but it was hard because I was trying to please everybody, and I had this secret that I was keeping that I was gay. And I thought that if people found out they wouldn't like me, they wouldn't laugh at me.... Really, when I look back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. I mean, it was so important for me to lose everything because I found out what the most important thing was it to be true to yourself.''

Parts of a commencement speech delivered by comedian and talk show host Ellen Degeneres at her hometown college, Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (TheEllenShowFan on YouTube)