Matthew McConaughey gives inspiring commencement speech to class of 2020 l GMA

To the class of

2020

I want you to know that this really sucks, but you will get over it, you will get over it, you will remember, you will laugh, you may cry, but it will all make sense when you are older. I promise you, I welcome you back to Good Morning America. It's great to have a message from our friend Josh GAD for the class of

2020

. We're celebrating graduates across the country this morning all morning and prom, of course, just like you. I can see that there are so many people staying at home. We want to make sure students are recognized for all their hard work.

George, this is an incredible moment. It's an incredible month for them. We congratulate you all and join us live right now. is the urban assembly school class of 2020 for mercy minimal management are an incredible group of students who have already accomplished so much a graduation ceremony without a

commencement

speech

this morning the speaker is in an award winning actor from the Academia joins us live from home, please welcome the one and only Matthew McConaughey. Matthew was giving a standing ovation here in the studio, you just can't see it, but we want to thank you so much for joining us this morning, bringing so much joy to everyone and you know.

I've been doing a lot during this crisis on Monday we showed him his PSA which is all about us and he talks like an idiot about America coming together during this crisis and why it's so important to share that message. There is more to this message. Yes, you know this crisis. appeared and gave us all a unified purpose it gave humanity a unified purpose it gave us as Americans a unified purpose and in the last month or so some partisan politics have created a kind of false division and suddenly the narrative became yes you wanted to work well obviously you were on the far right if you want to stay home you're obviously on the far left if you want to wear a mask you're on the left if you don't wear one you're on the right and that's all false it's true so post the public service announcement just to remind us all to keep our eye on the ball, we need all hands on deck in America right now, our purpose is not an us versus them policy. politically partisan fight our purpose right now is to beat the virus together and that's the public service announcement, it's about us, this is how we're going to do it, it's about us like in the US, so let's stick together through this great message, yes we can all come together through this amazing graduation ceremony and I have to say Matthew, we have been sharing all our high school photos for a long time now, when I know you graduated in 1988, we are showing your photo, look at yourself there.

I'm curious to know what the best advice you received was. then I also really liked the blonde highlights, you only get those. He probably had a rat tail on his back. Best advice I got in high school, probably from a friend of mine named Ray Nice Sherman. I remember it was one morning we got to school and she came up to me and complimented me on what I was wearing and like you know, you're a handsome guy, Matthew and I were in these four days during these can she reached out her hand. I remember he just grabbed my arm and said, hey, just say thank you, if someone compliments you, you don't need to be fake Marchese, go, thank you, look him in the eyes, I never forget it, thank you. where that's a great message and what's her message to all the students this morning what's my message to all the students this morning Oh, what's my graduation

speech

?

Are we ready for that? Let's listen to it. We are ready. So. here we go and we are talking to you the urban assembly school for emergency management I tell you congratulations number one you just graduated you don't have a graduation party you don't have a real ceremony don't feel bad at least you're original you're the one and only you you will have so much fun for the rest of your life knowing that watching from the rooftops we are the class of 2020, we have a virtual graduation, we walk by and we have McConaughey to make our

commencement

put it on t-shirts make a rap song with it wear it as a badge of honor because it is yours and yours alone forever congratulations chosen professions like emergency management tracers we all have a role to play in making this world a better place and you chose to do something with a real and necessary purpose, people all over the The world seeks a purpose every day and you have one, your vocation is a necessity, it is not a luxury, it is brave work that requires true courage and commitment, now some of you will go to university and many of you will go directly to the first line they will enter the workforce during another crisis we are in now they will not have internships or emergency trips or auditions or warm-ups no g-league before the NBA no friendly games no school to follow yes you will be in the ring between the five headlines first day live I know it's not how you planned it but that's how it turned out and that's how it is So I say stay focused on your tunnel vision and accept the unique position you're in and believe and know that you can do it .

Support your 2020 graduating brothers and sisters. Become a fraternity you know. A special class like no other you can be proud of. your position and accept the challenge that you are giving back, you are adding value to your community, you are striving to be your best self, so I want to urge you to take this opportunity together now when it comes to life in general, some things that I have I heard that they have helped me along the way. I'm going to share with you here, act today in ways that you will respect tomorrow, from how you treat yourself to how you treat others in real life and online, and what I mean by online simply. remember those comments you leave online those thumbs up or thumbs down they will outlive you they are a party a resume of who you are number two respect yourself and others inspire yourself and others and laugh as much as possible and have as much fun as you can you can when you can number three life is hard even without a damn pandemic you realize that now and you are going to enjoy your life much more later number four don't be afraid to fail learn who you are take the risk of being that person then persist and go after getting what you want number five let your reach exceed your reach and if you do that what you will end up getting will be better than what you could have gotten number six and you bought something pretty boring because how?

Did we ever know what was right if we didn't make mistake number seven take care of yourselves, family and loved ones, or give to your family and loved ones, bet on yourself, stay in the past, make a plan when you can and own it of him so that I see, thank you, urban assembly school for emergency management, New York, New York, class of 2020, make it count and above all, just eat, live, it's not just that for which everyone We are here, that is what you and your work allow us to do, thank you. That's what it was great Mathews, thank you, you know, you mentioned it right at the end, live on and that's the name of your foundation, also, tell us what you're trying to do with it, we have an extracurricular curriculum in the title. a school across America where we teach kids physical nutrition community service and gratitude right now what we're doing is bringing food to a lot of these students not only in our schools but in other schools around the country because we have to Remember that There are many students who relied on one or two meals a day from their school and are unable to attend at this time.

Another thing we are doing is trying to provide them with the means to continue their education. While they can't be in school, we are getting laptops for people, young men and women, laptops that didn't have them before or maybe someone had a laptop but didn't have a hotspot and couldn't connect to the internet, so we are giving them an access point so they can continue learning during this time when they can't go to school. That's fantastic, that's really fantastic and Matthew we want to thank you if your speech wasn't just for the class of 2020. I think there's something we can all learn to live by, we really appreciate you my friend, and as you mentioned through your foundation just keep alive, you are donating over 35,000 meals and 700 laptops to help children in need, Matthew, thank you again, these children will never forget it. friend we appreciate you more than America you will make it happen no doubt keep living that's right well hello GMA fans Robin Roberts thanks for visiting our YouTube channel there's a lot of great stuff here so Click the subscribe button on the right. here for more amazing GMA videos and content every day at any time.

We thank you for watching and we'll see you in the morning on GMA.