Class of 2021

Before I start my speech I would first love to thank God for everything because without him none of this would be possible. I would also love to thank my family and friends for pushing me to be the best version of myself each and every day. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the alumni, faculty, staff, and students here at Northern Vermont University who selected me to deliver the undergraduate commencement speech. I am sending my best wishes, prayers, and condolences to anyone who is battling, or lost their life to the unfortunate pandemic.

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2021! Despite several changes and the unfortunate circumstances of the global pandemic, each and every single one of you put your best foot forward and stayed in that direction. Dedication, hard work, hustle, perseverance, and patience is the reason we are all gathered here today to share this special moment together. Thank you parents, family, and friends for joining here today. Your consistent love and motivation has really pushed us to see something in ourselves that we have never seen before. Thank you to the university for helping us reach new levels and unlock new potential. We all remember when we first stepped foot on campus. For some this may be a bittersweet ending. This University has been a home away from home for most students. The University protected our freedom of expression, made this an environment where curiosity, critical thinking, and thoughtful questions were encouraged, kept their word by making this a community that demonstrates compassion and responsibility through service and involvement within our campuses and our surrounding communities. We learned values that we will carry with us for a lifetime. Once again thank you to the University.

Every graduate here today has one thing in common, that was to graduate. The end goal was to receive a degree in which you worked hard day and night for. Several graduates here today believe that the degree was the main objective. What a lot of people don’t talk about is actually how you get there. You can’t just jump to the end goal without going through the process. The journey, the process. Everyone has been to a restaurant where you put your order in and you don’t see your food for like another hour plus or hour and a half. You are at the table angry, agitated, and ready to go into the kitchen and cook the food yourself. You’re even asking yourself is this wait even worth it. When they finally bring your food out, you clean the plate and talk about how good the food was. This process is similar to you receiving your degree. The journey, the highlights we don’t see. Nobody sees you wake up for an 8:00AM zoom class but you do it anyway. The process. Nobody sees you pulling all nighters studying till the next morning day after day so you can get a good grade on your exam. The process. Out of state students, nobody understands the distance you traveled just to attend the university. The process. Students work jobs on and off campus to pay for their education, investing in a better tomorrow. The process. We don’t highlight the failed tests, and going back to study harder for the next exam. The process. The days you cried and wanted to give up on school but you still kept going. Student athletes travel for hours. Some do homework, read, or study on the bus or right before a game sometimes. Getting back to school at very late hours of the night just to wake up and do it all over again the next day. The beautiful process. On our journey’s to this destination, we learn something about ourselves. We learn that there is a level of greatness that we have all yet to tap in into. We learn we are capable of achieving. We gain mental toughness. We grow relentless. We know how to respond to adversity much better. Our preparation is taken more seriously. But the most important thing we learned was how to sacrifice. To achieve milestones like this, we all had to sacrifice big one way or another. We learned who we really are during the process. Everyone should look back on feeling very accomplished because the journey, and the process it took to get to this moment is the true reward.

Continue to be curious. Ask as many questions as possible and always dare to be different. We all earned our degree today but this is just another reaction because we should all be committed to being lifelong learners. Stay motivated, hungry, and the change you want to see. Lastly, continue to stay engaged, and always invest in yourself. The next generation is going to need the best version of you. And in the infamous words of Nipsey Hussle, THE MARATHON CONTINUES!

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2021.