See Beyond the Letters
Congratulations Class of 2019! First and foremost, I want to thank God. To Chairman Duber, President Burwell, Provost Myers, deans, families, and friends, thank you for supporting us on this journey.
Now this may come as a shock to everyone, but yes, I can confirm that there are in fact 26 letters in the English alphabet. Our understanding of the alphabet is mired in the combination of those letters to make words for our communication. But today, some of those letters will form to represent the degrees conferred today such as B.As, B.Ss, not the kind you’re all now thinking about, M.As, M.Eds, Ph.Ds and more. Letters that will forever be associated with your name. But often forgotten in this world of expediency, when we scan past these letters on places like LinkedIn, social media, resumes and mediums of the like, are the things that you can’t see without digging deeper – the stories etched in fine print into the ink of those very letters.
When I am blessed to officially obtain my Master of Education Policy and Leadership today, I will always see more than just the letters M.Ed. I will recall the sleepless nights that followed a full day of work and a full night of class that left me drained beyond compare. I will remember the conversations with Professor Jennifer Steele that led me to keep-on, keeping on to heights I could never imagine. I will feel the pain of the losses of loved ones over the past couple of years that forever changed who I was as a person, and whose wishes for me I carry in my heart. I will reminisce on the never-ending support and dreams my parents had for me to live a better life than they were ever able to live, leading them to sacrifice their own dreams so I could live mine. I will read in those letters the adversity of my start in D.C. that was coupled with working three jobs to make ends meet. But more so, beyond the letters I will reflect on a specific cold and dreary night where I contemplated giving up on my dreams. And yet, a once seemingly unconquerable obstacle has joined the likes of many stories that will follow the comma in my signature. I believe many of these sentiments ring true for so many of you.
Turn to your neighbor and say neighbor, you are more than the degrees you hold. Class of 2019 remember these few things as we leave here today. Remember to run your own race for that is the only race that counts, take a leap of faith towards your greatest dreams, and believe in the impossible as so many greats did before us. And as we turn the page from our chapter at American University and we hold high the degrees we’ve attained, be proud of the work you’ve done, never forget the lessons learned, and always see beyond the letters.