Standing before a sea of graduates,Lea Michelehad not one, but two high school graduations to look back on as she delivered the commencement address at Uplift Peak Preparatory in Dallas, Texas, this week.
“I sort of reminisced on my actual high school reunion, which was in Tenafly, New Jersey, as well as my television graduation, which was onGlee,” the 31-year-old tells PEOPLE.
And she isn’t kidding: She remembers her 2004 ceremony in impressive detail.
“I remember what I wore: I had a lavender miniskirt with a matching lavender top and these adorable little silver strappy sandals with butterflies on the side,” she says. “And I remember it was raining so we had to do it indoors, so it was terribly muggy and I remember I was worried that my naturally curly hair was going to take over and look terrible in all of my photos.”
She continues, “Sitting in our auditorium in our high school, I remember such a sense of relief. I graduated with a 3.67 GPA, I was accepted into NYU. I’d worked so hard to get to this place while also simultaneously working on Broadway from the third grade through my senior year. So the fact that I managed to accomplish all of that, I really felt truly proud of myself and the strongest sense of relief ever on my graduation day.”
Michael Simon/Startraks Photo
As for what advice she’d give herself on that day, Michele says she’d urge herself to just “keep doing what you’re doing.” But for the graduates at Uplift Peak Prep, Michele also made sure to honor the students’ parents as part of a collaboration withWhirlpool’s Congrats, Parents campaign.
Thankfully, they were on board: the 77 students, all of whom were accepted into college, decorated their caps with signs of appreciation for their parents.
“What I really want to get across in my speech is obviously congratulating all these students, but also really taking a moment to acknowledge all of the work that their parents have done,” Michele explains. “I don’t think that a lot of kids realize all of the work that their parents are doing behind the scenes: loads of laundry, all of the dishes, cooking the meals. It’s incredible — there’s something like 8,000 loads of laundry that a parent will do for their child throughout the course of their education!”
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And then, of course, she’ll have a wedding to plan. Micheleannounced her engagementto AYR clothing company presidentZandy Reichin late April.
source: people.com
