Tyler Perry recounts hardships, realizations and life at Tuskegee U. graduation

One Georgia resident - and household name across the country - got a special surprise during commencement at Tuskegee University on Saturday.

But he also left the crowd and school with an inspiration to carry forth into the next chapter of their lives.

Tyler Perry received his first honorary degree there and then took the podium to recount his own life, his journey in his career and the realizations he made while struggling to follow his dream - sometimes right here on the streets of Atlanta.

"It fills my heart with joy to be here on these hallowed of this historic campus and also to see your faces - to feel the hope in this place. It's electric," Perry said. "Your light is shining so bright today so congratulations to all of you graduates, you have made it."

The room erupted in applause and cheers as the actor, director and producer took the stage to accept the prestigious recognition before stepping forward to offer advice and more to the crowded room.

He explained to the graduates that he didn't get the chance to go to college - both because of hardships in his own family and for what he attributed to teenage stubbornness.

But looking back - and looking forward at the group of graduates in front of him - Perry said he envied them.

"If I could get back half the time and the moneys that I spent and wasted because of what I didn't know, I could have paid for everybody's education in this entire school," he said. "You see, it was what I didn't know and that I didn't get in college that made it difficult for me to run my business in the beginning."

Perry explained that if he had he gone to college he could have learned the basics of business that he sometimes had to learn the hard way without them.

"Now don't feel sorry for me, now I'm dong alright," he said. "But my journey would have been so much easier had I taken advantage of the kind of education that you have been afforded here at Tuskegee."

He also spoke of his childhood as the son of a carpenter and how he hated the long and arduous process of helping build the foundations of buildings in the Louisiana heat. It was a long drawn-out process that he said no one ever even saw.

"No one ever cared about the foundation," he said. "The only time you ever hear someone talking about the foundation is when the house is falling apart."

Watch the full commencement speech here

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He added that when done right, this foundation could carry the weight of anything it was designed to hold, he said.

"Well, that's what you've been doing here," he said. "You've been building a foundation - one that will hold you up for the rest of your life."

Perry also spoke of the early days of his career when he first went to work in Atlanta after writing his first play called "I know I've been changed."

It was about surviving child abuse and was very personal to him. And at the time his only goal was to raise enough money to support his mother.

The jobs he worked to launch the play were anything but glamorous - ranging from bill collector to car salesman.

Finally the day came and the play opened. Far from the 1,200 attendees he expected - only 30 showed up.

The poor showing left Perry on the street with no money and no home. But he didn't stop believing that he was right to follow his calling.

"Over and over again it failed - or so I thought - from '92 to '93 to '94, every year, I was doing one show a year," he said.

He said he would get odd jobs in between and often quit when they wouldn't give time off to their new employee. While he cautioned the crowd that this was "my story" and didn't necessarily recommending quitting new jobs, he said that he wouldn't let anything get in the way of his plays.

After 7 years he almost gave up and moved into the workforce that his mom always insisted he join.

But then he started getting notes from his audience about his work and it further reinforced his need to continue following his dream.

That's because this dream wasn't necessarily about him anymore.

"Then I realized, wait a second, this story that I'm telling about these adult survivors getting over things, this isn't just about me or where I come from," he said. "It's a healing for many people."

At that realization, Perry said his intention changed. He realized it was about the people in the audience not about paying bills.

"My entire intention changed in 1998 and everything in my life shifted after that," he said. "I was still doing the same show; I was still doing the same things. But because my intention changed, my purpose in what I was doing this for had changed."

From that point, he said, it became about bringing forth topics that weren't talked about amidst a "politically correct" climate. It also became about bringing back a name often left out of the bigger discussion - Jesus.

Perry said that when he stopped working for success it began coming his way - from plays to movies and then to television.

From 30 attendees to thousands, from no money to billions, Perry said that it gave him the opportunity to help others as well, bringing African Americans to the screen and giving stars such as Idris Elba and Kerry Washington a chance to step forward.

He also warned of the perils of success and what he learned from the attacks that came with it - and what mentalities need to change.

"You see, we as black people we have come through so much and we've endured so much that a lot of us - not all of us - but a lot of us still bear the scare of our ancestors," he said. "We still feel that if one of us is up then that means that no one else can be, too."

He said it was a mentality from another time.

"That stems from a time in our history that there was only allowed one person of color to be successful at a time," he said.

He said to expect the attacks but added that "a hunter only shoots at a deer he can see."

"If you ain't being seen, you ain't doing nothing," he said.

In that way, Perry has been seen and been attacked, but stressed that it's no longer a system where only one person can be ahead.

He also pointed out that with the purchase of Fort McPherson, he hopes to give an opportunity to the surrounding low income area.

"I will hire many people from that neighborhood and train them how to run their own companies," he said. "It gives me so much joy to know that an Army base that was established and built just a few years after slavery is now owned by a Negro."

He closed by telling the graduates to know their own value and to remember those who are in those areas when they finally make their mark in the world.

"You have the torch; it's already been bought and paid for. Now it's in your hands," he said. "Use it for good; inspire somebody."