Oprah Winfrey receives honorary degree at Harvard

Oprah Winfrey was inducted into Ivy League. The former daytime show host was given an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Harvard Thursday morning, May 30 during the prestigious university's commencement ceremonies in Cambridge, Mass.

"Oh my goodness. I'm at HAAAARVARD!" Oprah began her speech when addressing the students, alumni and new graduates. "Not too many girls from rural Mississippi have made it all the way here to Cambridge. ... I consider today to be a defining milestone..."

Sharing her experience in the showbiz industry, Oprah said she strived to be "pushing, pushing, pushing myself." Her struggle of leading OWN in the first year after retiring from daytime show only wanted her to "turn this thing around and be better for it" all the more. "I have turned that network around!" she said, aceshowbiz reports.

"It doesn't matter how far you might rise because at some point you might stumble. ... And when you (fall), there is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. When you're down in the hole, it might look like failure," she stated.

"Give yourself time to mourn what you think you may have lost. Then, here's the key: Learn from every mistake. Each mistake will force you to learn who you really are. ... And then figure out what is the next right move," she continued as quoted by USA Today.

She went to tell the graduating class of 2013, "You now have a chance to better your life, the life of your neighbors and that of our country... When you do that, that's when your story gets really good." She added, be "the highest, most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You want to max out your humanity."