--- description: Actress Octavia Spencer encouraged graduates to be optimistic during her commencement address at Ohio's Kent State University title: Read Octavia Spencer's Commencement Speech at Kent State image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9aa2e3a4d6af81d/6988b8c28fd2ee4a1f355aa8/octavia-spencer-trump-supporters-hidden-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Octavia Spencer's Advice to Graduates: 'The Best Years Are Very Much Ahead of You' by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2017 3:12 PM CUT  Octavia Spencer arrives at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Octavia Spencer arrives at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Expo Hall on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.Steve Granitz—WireImage by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 14, 2017 3:12 PM CUT _Actress Octavia Spencer delivered the commencement address at Ohio’s Kent State University on Saturday._ --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4778418/octavia-spencer-kent-state-university-graduation-commencement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4778418/octavia-spencer-kent-state-university-graduation-commencement/"},"headline":"Octavia Spencer's Advice to Graduates: 'The Best Years Are Very Much Ahead of You'","datePublished":"2017-05-14T15:12:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:54:48.740Z","description":"\"Be loud with your voices\"","url":"https://time.com/4778418/octavia-spencer-kent-state-university-graduation-commencement/","keywords":["Education","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9aa2e3a4d6af81d/6988b8c28fd2ee4a1f355aa8/octavia-spencer-trump-supporters-hidden-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9aa2e3a4d6af81d/6988b8c28fd2ee4a1f355aa8/octavia-spencer-trump-supporters-hidden-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Arrivals","caption":"23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Steve Granitz—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4778418/octavia-spencer-kent-state-university-graduation-commencement/","name":"Octavia Spencer's Advice to Graduates: 'The Best Years Are Very Much Ahead of You'"}}]}] ```