With every graduation day comes the sadness of leaving your classmates, the relief of being done with those pesky finals, the accomplishment of completing college (unless you go to grad school), and a slew of other emotions. What also makes a graduation so memorable, is the person who gives the final word to the graduates; the speaker. It is their words of wisdom that encourage many graduates to keep working hard and fight for their dreams.
However, some college students are picky on exactly who they want giving them advice. In a two-question nationwide survey conducted by college millennial marketing agency Fluent, 60,000+ students were asked who they would prefer to have speak at their commencement. With 25 real-life and 25 fictional figures on the ballot, here are the top 10 from each after receiving 1,200 responses.
Real-Life Speakers
1. Ellen DeGeneres
2. Barack Obama
President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington. (Photo by H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY staff)
3. Bill Gates
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
(Photo: MEHDI TAAMALLAH AFP/Getty Images)
4. Tina Fey
Tina Fey arrives at the premiere of “This is Where I Leave You” at TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) ORG XMIT: CAAK103
5. Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
(Photo: Evan Agostini, Invision/AP)
6. Oprah Winfrey
(Luke Rafferty)
7. Stephen Colbert
(AP Photo/Comedy Central, Scott Gries)
8. Beyonce
9. Will Farrell
10. Elon Musk
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., unveils the companyís newest products, Powerwall and Powerpack in Hawthorne, Calif., Thursday, April 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) ORG XMIT: NYOTK
Fictional Speakers
1. Ironman/Tony Stark (Iron Man, The Avengers)
2. Harry Potter (Harry Potter)
3. Olivia Pope (Scandal)
![SCANDAL - "White Hat's Off" - Quinn's identity is finally revealed, and the more the Pope & Associates team learn about her past, the more they realize she could be their biggest scandal yet. Meanwhile, a senator seeks Olivia's help when his personal life is about to become a public disgrace, and President Fitz is stuck between a rock and hard place when Mellie and Cyrus put him in a very compromising position during a live television interview, on the sophomore season premiere of "Scandal," THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/DANNY FELD) KERRY WASHINGTON [Via MerlinFTP Drop]](http://usatcollege.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/xxx_kerry-washington-scandal-s2-326.jpg?w=610&h=407)
4. Yoda (Star Wars)
A statue of Yoda is displayed at the preview of the “Star Wars Vision’ exhibition in Tokyo on April 28, 2015. Star Wars-related objects will be exhibited at the exhibition from April 29 through June 28, while the new Star Wars movie will be screening end of this year. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNOYOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: 540180736
5. Michael Scott (The Office)
6. Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)
7. Frank Underwood (House of Cards)
8. Ron Burgundy (Anchorman)
9. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
10. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
AP Photo/Lionsgate
Filed under: VOICES FROM CAMPUS Tagged: 2015, college, college millennial marketing agency, commencement, desire, desired, fiction, fluent, graduation, non-fiction, poll, real life, speakers, ten, top, want