Jimmy Fallon surprises Parkland students at their graduation

The nearly 800 graduating seniors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were surprised Sunday by The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon, who served as their commencement speaker.

In February, a former student murdered 17 students and staff members at the Parkland, Florida, school in a mass shooting. Several survivors have since banded together to campaign for school safety and gun control, organizing the March for Our Lives protests in April. "You are not just the future — you are the present," Fallon said. "Keep changing the world. Keep making us proud." He shared some words of wisdom, telling them that "when something feels hard, remember that it gets better. Choose to move forward. Don't let anything stop you."

The families and friends of four students who were killed — Nicholas Dworet, Joaquin Oliver, Meadow Pollack, and Carmen Schentrup — picked up their diplomas, with Oliver's mother wearing a shirt that read, "This should be my son," graduate Chris Grady told NBC News. The ceremony, held at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, was private and not open to the press. Catherine Garcia

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