Dwayne Johnson Responds to a High School Senior's Letter With a Moving Graduation Speech
Dwayne Johnson recently asked for a leader to step forward to support and unite our country, and high school senior Lorraine Angelakos answered his call to action. The Florida class president wrote a powerful letter to Dwayne, and in return, he surprised her with a special graduation message on his Facebook page on Monday.
The Jumanji: Next Level actor said Lorraine's poignant message knocked him off his feet. "It's not what Lorraine is saying it's how she's saying it," Dwayne explained. He read from her letter, "Some students will be making their way to college and some won't, some will be hitting the workforce. All of us have dreams and aspirations. I consider you an inspiration to our youth, to help remind us that hard work, positivity and perseverance will pay off no matter how hard the road might seem."
"I asked a question a few weeks ago. I said, 'Where are you?' And now I have my answer. You're right here. Here you are."
"Most commencement speakers and celebrities are sought for after you complete college, but I think the time is now in your senior year when some students won't have that luxury to attend college," he continued reading. "With the help of someone like you, you can inspire them. They deserve it now with you as their inspiration."
Dwayne reassured Lorraine that he would've "traveled around the world twice and back" to speak to her graduating class at no cost, but she enclosed $7 — the same amount of money Dwayne started his career with. "That sealed the deal," he said.
"Lorraine, I asked a question a few weeks ago. I said 'Where are you?' And now I have my answer. You're right here. Here you are," he continued. "You and your fellow graduates . . . you guys are our empathetic compassionate leaders who are going to lead us, who are going to be the ones responsible that we as adults are having a little challenging time right now answering. You guys are the ones who are going to normalize equality. We're going to build a pathway, that's my accountability, myself and others we're going to build that pathway. You guys are going to make sure it happens and that it stays that way forever."
"We all must become the leaders that we're looking for," he concluded. "To all the graduates of 2020, congratulations, thank you for being our leaders. We got this."