Oprah Winfrey address Skidmore graduates

Oprah Winfrey's eyes were closed, her breath slowed and reverberated from the stadium loudspeaker.

"Let whatever you're most grateful for in your heart in this moment just rise to the surface," she said as she led the crowd of Skidmore College graduates and their families in a brief meditation session.

The TV star was in Saratoga Saturday to celebrate the graduation of a former student of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a South African school she founded in 2007 with help from South African statesman Nelson Mandela.

[...] there was some serious star power at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saturday (Simon was there for his daughter's graduation).

[...] more than anything the ceremony was about gratitude -— for parents and friends; for challenges and camaraderie; for the unique paths that brought each of the commencement's speakers to the stage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Raised in a refugee camp in Damascus, Syria, the Palestinian has given TED talks, and lists the United Nations and Institute for New Economic Thinking on his resume.

"Remember that when the crisis appears it's darkest, humanity will shine it's brightest," he said to applause.