Graduation Speech

 For those of you who don't know I was chosen as student speaker for the class of 2020. This is for my department; not the University. My peers chose me to represent them in an intimate ceremony the evening before graduation. The department waited a year anticipating being in person. That did not happen. We had the ceremony over Zoom. Here's what I said: 

Institute of Pastoral Studies faculty, staff, students, family, friends, I am honored to be your class speaker and represent the class of 2020. Fellow students today is a day of joy and celebration. We have done so much work to get to this point. We can do 250-word reflections in our sleep; we have written papers that have helped us support our arguments and learned a whole lot about ourselves. Our professors have become mentors that have had lasting impressions on our hearts.

For me, the professors were the first people I met who truly were walking the walk. They are people who are striving to change the world and make it a better place. They inspire me to take action and live as if anything is possible. God smiles down on the Institute of Pastoral Studies because we don’t just sit in our ivory tower, we get on the ground and help people. We are not afraid of people who look or think differently, we will be the people who build bridges between our fellow humans. That is a critical gift, and we are called to use it. Right now, the world is realizing that people who are marginalized need to be seen and heard. Our human family is better when we hear everyone and not just the so-called majority. This is wonderful. However, my fear is that it is a trend, and not going to be permanently embedded in our society. That possibility is unacceptable, we have to be the ones that make sure the marginalized are seen and heard. Hearing voices of marginalized people should be permanent, not a trend.

To my fellow graduates, the fact that you saw how joyful I was and trusted me with leadership positions, thank you. You embraced me for what I stand for, not my disability. Your acts of kindness have been etched in my heart forever. And thank you for not labeling me as inspiring, it let me be a genuine peer. I enjoyed not having that label, it allowed for me to explore different parts of my identity. Please keep the vision you have, to see hearts first and an individual’s circumstances second. You all have a place in my heart.

Finally, I want to thank my family. They taught me to be unrealistic. When I was a baby, a lot of doctors told my parents to have really low expectations for me. They did not subscribe to that belief system at all. They had high expectations and they believed in me and now, I’m the student speaker at graduation getting my master’s degree. Believe in yourself, build a support system, and chase your dreams. Congratulations to the class of 2020 and the class of 2021, we did it! 

 Looking forward to the future, 

Hannah!