To the graduates, congratulations on this day. Your diligence and perseverance have brought you to this milestone, and you are to be commended. Savor every second of it, for it is truly unique.
Some of you are sad to be leaving, probably surprised that your time here has gone by so quickly. Others are, no doubt, thrilled to be moving on. Regardless of how you feel now, your emotional attachment and the footprints you leave behind will only deepen as the years go by, and you will find yourselves drawn back time and time again.
You will undoubtedly continue to grow, to understand life, choices, and people, the pressure of here and now, and the demands that your future will have for you. There will be close calls, obstacles, and falls. But, in the end, we have no doubt that you will make it through, for we have fostered in you an attitude of self-reliance, determination and compassion for others and you have impressed us with how you have grown.
Nelson Mandela once said that “…our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measures. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
You ask yourselves, “What now? What next?” Whatever the answer may be, when you move on, you will find a new series of challenges in need of new solutions; when you are challenged, don’t back down. When you are unsure, don’t be shy to ask. When you are sure, don’t hold back and always remember that what each of you has to contribute is worthwhile. Act fearlessly and confront courageously the obstacles that you will face, for you once said that you want to be something; you have big dreams, big plans, big ideas, and big ambitions. This is it! The future has arrived. It commences now.
Wherever you go and whatever you do in these next several years, be assured that you are more than qualified to succeed, and we believe in you.  You have now become independent thinkers and lifelong learners. You embody all that we strive to achieve in our mission to pursue academic excellence.
You are our accomplishments, our rewards and our pride.