10 Reasons Emma Watson is a Stellar Grad
Even with a net worth of $60 million, Emma Watson is still excited by more universal milestones like graduating from college. The British actress just graduated from Brown University and tweeted a nice little selfie of her cap and gown over the weekend, reminding us all that completing higher education is a huge deal whether you’re a high-earning movie star or anxious 22-year-old with no post-collegiate plans in mind.
Out of the entire Harry Potter cast, Watson seems to be thriving the most right now, all thanks to a level-head, a good attitude, a strong work ethic and a desire to keep growing. For her graduation gift, I present a list of her amazing attributes, which we’ll certainly see more of long after she stashes that cap and gown away in her memory box. Here’s why Emma Watson is one of the coolest college graduates of the class of 2014.
10. She speaks French
We all know she considers England her home, but she was born in Paris on April 15, 1990. Her parents are fluent in French, and like many Europeans, she knows how to speak it as well. She wouldn’t consider herself fluent, but she’s probably better than the average American!
9. She knows how to rock the pixie cut
Boy, did she wear it like a pro! Though many would agree she looked incredible as usual, some people had the audacity to ask whether the new look insinuated she was attracted to women. She told The Independent two years ago, “I had journalists asking me if [my haircut] meant I was coming out, if I was a lesbian now. That haircut did make me realize how subjective everyone’s opinion is.”
8. She put a stop to bullying rumors when she left Brown for a while
Bullying remains a huge problem in our culture, but Emma Watson won’t have anyone suggesting she’s a victim when she’s actually not. When she left Brown for a bit a few years ago, gossip sites started reporting that her departure was due to mean classmates. Watson cleared up the silly harassment rumors in no time, upset that the media tried to tarnish her institution of higher education with lies, “It made me so sad when all this stuff came out that I left Brown because I was being bullied. It made no sense at all. Brown has been the opposite. I’ve never even been asked for an autograph on campus. I threw a party for nearly 100 students, and not a single person put a photo on Facebook.”
One of the big rumors was that someone yelled “Ten points for Gryffindor” after she answered a question in class. Watson went on to say she’d never storm out of school because of a remark like that, “Anyway, even if I was being given a hard time, I wasn’t going to wuss out of university because someone said ‘Wingardium leviosa‘ to me in a corridor, or ‘Ten points for Gryffindor.’”
7. She went to college and actually finished
Some celebrities enroll in college but never actually graduate. Watson started Brown when she was a huge deal in the acting world, and though she took some time off and graduated in five years instead of the standard four (that whole A-list celebrity thing gets in the way of homework sometimes!), she completed what she started like the pro she is. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a little girl who signed on to a major franchise at age ten and stuck with it for a decade.
6. She gets the brutal college dating scene
Relationships in college can be so hard, even when you’re Emma Watson. After temporarily leaving Brown in 2011, she explained she’d experienced some dating slights on campus, “I say to my friends, ‘Why hasn’t X called me? Why doesn’t anyone ever pursue me?’ They’re like, ‘Probably because they’re intimidated.’ It must be the fame wall,” she said. “It must be the circus that goes around me. Me, as a person, I find it hard to believe I would be intimidating.” Hopefully she has some better luck now that she’s out in the real world again!
5. She can do an American accent
The Bling Ring isn’t for everyone, but I loved how much work Emma Watson clearly put into this movie. She took on an American Valley Girl accent, portrayed someone she didn’t particularly see eye-to-eye with and even studied Beyonce’s dancing for the role. (She nailed it.)
4. She’s a certified yoga and meditation instructor
You could always reach out for a lesson, but I’m sure it would cost you a pretty penny!
3. She knows what it’s like to be aimless
Many of us are uncomfortable with the uncertain, and Emma Watson is no exception. “People are like: ‘Where are you living? What are you doing?’ I don’t know,” she said in an interview with Elle Australia. “I’m too young to decide right now if I want to live here or in New York or in L.A. or wherever else. And I really struggled for the answers the past three years. I should really know! I should really commit!” The good news is, not all who wander are lost.
2. She was crushed by a crush as a pre-teen
We’ve all been there: the cute sisterly figure in a brutally unfair case of unrequited love. For Emma Watson, this happened with Harry Potter co-star Tom Felton in the early days of filming the franchise. In 2012, she admitted to being smitten with Felton back in the day even though the feeling just wasn’t mutual, “Between the ages of ten and twelve I had a really terrible crush on Tom Felton, to the extent that I would go into work in the morning and look down the numbers on the call sheet to see if he was going to be in. We love a bad guy, he was a few years older and he had a skateboard – and that just did it really. He totally knew and the thing is that he’d tell everyone, ‘I see her in a younger, sisterly way,’ and it just broke my heart. It still does.” Thankfully she’s a swan now and can have anyone she wants.
1. She’s a big sister
This is generally a recipe for success, and Emma Watson totally fits the bill!
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