--- description: The Academy Award-winning actress surprised the graduating class at Warren Easton Charter High School on Monday to share some funny and touching bits of life advice title: Watch Sandra Bullock’s Commencement Speech To a New Orleans High School image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrity](/tag/celebrity/) ## celebrity Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Sandra Bullock's Commencement Speech To a New Orleans High School by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2014 12:05 PM CUT by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2014 12:05 PM CUT Who wouldn’t want to get life advice from [Sandra Bullock](http://www.thewrap.com/sandra-bullock-surprises-high-school-grads-moving-speech/ "undefined")? The Oscar-winning actress — who has a great track record when it comes to giving [excellent speeches](http://youtu.be/-hTTwSQPmMo?t=8m14s "undefined") — dispensed some wisdom at a surprise commencement speech delivered to the graduating class at Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans on Monday. Bullock, whose adopted son, Louis, is from New Orleans, donated money to the school after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005\. She told the graduating seniors that the life advice she gives every day to her son, age four, is exactly what she wishes someone had told her when she was young and she wanted to pass it on to them. The advice was both practical (“do not pick your nose in public”) and profound (“for some reason people want to see you fail, but that is not your problem, that is their problem”). She also ended on a particularly inspiring note, telling the graduating students to find their “joy,” because “it’s the joy that stays with you.” \[[_The Wrap_](http://www.thewrap.com/sandra-bullock-surprises-high-school-grads-moving-speech/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/105827/sandra-bullock-commencement-new-orleans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/105827/sandra-bullock-commencement-new-orleans/"},"headline":"Watch Sandra Bullock's Commencement Speech To a New Orleans High School","datePublished":"2014-05-20T12:05:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:19.771Z","description":"The Academy Award-winning actress surprised the graduating class at Warren Easton Charter High School on Monday to share some funny and touching bits of life advice","url":"https://time.com/105827/sandra-bullock-commencement-new-orleans/","keywords":["celebrity","Living","Charity","new orleans","Sandra Bullock","Life advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Gibson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"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/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrity/","name":"celebrity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/105827/sandra-bullock-commencement-new-orleans/","name":"Watch Sandra Bullock's Commencement Speech To a New Orleans High School"}}]}] ```