Dec 05, 2016 09:41 AM EST By Jane Reed, UniversityHerald Reporter

Tom Hanks recently received a Congressional Medal of Freedom from the United States President Barack Obama. He was awarded for his outstanding work in the industry of film and acting. According to the President, he only awards the medals to those who made outstanding contributions in order to make the American society great. And according to the actor, he would not be able to get to where he is without the arts.

The veteran actor boasts of how much he loves Cleveland. Tom Hanks recalled how he started as an intern at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival back in 1977. And to make his visit at Cuyahoga Community College, or Tri-C memorable, he revealed how he first started.

Tom Hanks spoke to hundreds of students at Tri-C last week, December 2, 2016, about how he decided to pack his bags and join a small theater company. He told the college students about he got rejected the first time, cites Cleveland19. He auditioned for a play in college when he came to Cleveland and did not get that part.

He tells the Tri-C students that because of his first rejection, he worked hard and was able to get a part in an Ohio tour. Looking back at his past failures, Tom Hanks then teased that he won the Congressional Medal of Freedom and thought he "did okay."

It is a humbling experience for students to listen to Tom Hanks and his career talk. He is known for his work in "Forrest Gump," "Apollo 13," "Saving Private Ryan," "Cast Away," "The Da Vinci Code" series and his vocal work in the animated movies "The Toy Story."

While in Cleveland, Ohio, Tom Hanks also visited a benefit that caters to the area's film and TV industry. He is now one of the highest paid actors in the United States and has been nominated for several awards, and won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Actor in "Philadelphia," a Screen Actor's Guild Award and even a People's Choice Award.

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