Harrison Ford delivered one of the most personal speeches of his career as he accepted an honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters at Arizona State University, opening up about the missteps, mentors, and moments that changed the course of his life.
Struggling in College
The 83‑year‑old actor received the honor ahead of addressing more than 14,000 undergraduates this week, and he didn’t shy away from the messy parts of his past.
Ford told the crowd that during his own college years, he “did not make good choices.”
The Indiana Jones icon admitted he “was squandering my life in riotous living,” which left him in “real trouble” academically by his junior year.
Signing up for Drama
This led him to sign up for a drama class, expecting to work backstage — but instead stumbled into the thing that would define his life. He recalled how the classmates he once dismissed as “geeks and misfits” became his people, saying, “I soon realized I was a geek and a misfit… I had found my fit.”
Ford said he discovered a new version of himself onstage. “I had always seen myself as shy, but hiding in character and costume and makeup, I had a freedom, a bravery I had never felt before.”
It’s where he found a mentor who encouraged him to pursue acting beyond Wisconsin.
He followed that mentor to California, but the path was anything but glamorous.
Acting didn’t pay the bills, and Ford supported his young family with carpentry work, taking only “four or five acting jobs” over 15 years. Everything changed when he was cast as Han Solo in Star Wars, but even then, he said something was missing.
He told the graduates, “Passion and purpose are not the same thing.”
Finding a Purpose
Ford said he found that purpose when he joined Conservation International, a nonprofit environmental organization where he could use his voice for something bigger than himself.
He said, “I didn’t want to be a poster boy for the cause.”
“I wanted to be part of the work.”
His message turned urgent as he spoke about the ongoing destruction of nature, warning that “despite new science, new policies, we are still losing nature to profiteering, corruption, conflict.”
He called for cultural change, social justice, and protection for Indigenous communities who are “being marginalized and, in many cases, killed in cold blood.”
Empowering the Future
But Ford ended on a note of empowerment, telling the Class of 2026 that their generation holds more influence than they realize.
He said, “If you harness that power… the world will not be able to ignore you.”
He closed with one final push. “Take hold of every opportunity, because what could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing that you haven’t fully lived it? Congratulations. Go change the world.”