Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares Honest Life Advice With Graduates Whose Lives Have Been Disrupted

Arnold Schwarzenegger as T-800 in Terminator: Dark Fate

(Image credit: (Paramount))

The spring season is typically one of ceremony, celebration – crowded stadiums filled with family and friends who are proud of the year’s high school and college graduates. With the ongoing world health crisis , the Class of 2020 is having a completely different experience this year. Terminator actor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently took some time to address recent graduates by offering some blunt, yet valuable life advice. In his words:

I felt sorry for the kids. But I wanted to tell them this is actually a good opportunity to say to them you know, ‘This is life.’ There will be obstacles thrown in front of you. This is not the last obstacle. And it’s all about how do you deal with those obstacles and move around it? Aurelies the Roman emperor said ‘What is in your way becomes the way.’ And this is exactly what it is.

These are wise words from the former California governor and iconic action star, who summed up the points he wanted to get across in his recent speech when catching up with Jimmy Fallon on another at-home edition of The Tonight Show. If you're curious about what he said during the entire address to the students, give it a watch below.

Arnold Schwarzenegger started his speech by being honest with the recent graduates from around the world his video reached. It’s really not the best time to graduate. It’s true, a lot more people are out of a job today than a few months ago, but as he stated, their success cannot be erased.

During the nearly 12-minute address, Arnold Schwarzenegger detailed the big obstacle he experienced just months before shooting Terminator: Dark Fate. During a routine physical with his doctor, he was told his heart valve needed to be replaced. Since the procedure could be done through a non-invasive surgery, Schwarzenegger agreed to go through it while he was in the middle for training to reprise his T-800 role.

However, there were complications that led the surgery to become an invasive one. When ArnoldSchwarzenegger woke up, he learned that his doctors had just saved his life and he wasn’t out of the woods yet. The actor had to use a walker to get around just months before filming intense fight sequences on Terminator: Dark Fate. As Schwarzenegger proudly told, his clear vision for himself allowed him to recover and make his summer shooting schedule on time.

The actor’s inspiring message to graduates comes after addresses from the likes of America's "dad" Tom Hanks, Ryan Reynoldsfunny message to his alma mater, Brad Pitt’s shoutout that mostly had fans talking about his new haircut, and one from Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been particularly vocal during the global pandemic by advising his fans to stay at home, selling masks and shirts for charity, and posting cute updates with his pet donkey and mini pony. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates on the Terminator actor, because he’ll be back – it's kind of his catchphrase.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.