BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It's that time of year across the country, thousands of graduation speeches are being delivered, but few of them may be remembered like the one given at Harvard. There a graduate overcame more than tough courses to succeed. Brooke Ellison is paralyzed from the neck down, a result of a tragic accident. Here is what she had to say at Harvard.</s>BROOKE ELLISON, HARVARD GRADUATE: When we first got here from New York, neither one of us knew what to expect. I was 17 and my mother was 44, and it was the first time away at college for both of us and we were frightened. We wondered whether we would fit into the Harvard community. I would not be here if it weren't for my mother and she wouldn't be here if it were not for me. And so it goes. As much as we would like to take credit for our own accomplishments, none of us would be here had it not been for the efforts and caring of those who helped us along the way. Both my mother and I have learned so much from all of you. What we hope you can learn from us, and from each other, is to take no one in your life for granted. And to lighten the moments you spend together. Time is so brief and so precious and not one of us knows how life will unfold. Ten years ago when I was 11 years old, I was hit by a car. I was initially thought to be brain-dead and by no one expected me to live. I've been paralyzed from the neck down and on a ventilator since that time. Tomorrow I will graduate from Harvard with my mother and all of you beautiful people. Miracles happen, they have happened to me and they are happening to you. You need only look to the people in your lives in order to see them. Congratulations everyone and God bless.</s>HEMMER: Brooke Ellison, her words, Harvard University.
Brooke Ellison, Paralyzed from Neck Down, Graduates Harvard