President Glickman, members of the Board of Regents, honored guests, faculty and graduates, thank you for inviting me to speak on this special day. Three weeks ago I was worried about giving a speech for my final Spanish presentation in front of my class and now I am giving one in front of the entire college. As I am sure many of you can understand, public speaking is not my strong suit. In fact, I am a science major who is studying to be a chemist and who loves math!But I find myself here and I will do my best.
Some people are born geniuses, learning is easy for them. They never have to struggle to read a textbook or study for an exam. I am sure many of you can relate to this as I can. This was not my experience. I always had to work hard to succeed. I have dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it hard for people to learn to read and write.When I was younger, I would memorize assignments just so when the time came to read them I could fake reading. I was pulled out of kindergarten to be homeschooled by my mother so that she could give me the attention that the school could not. More importantly she taught me a love of learning and the lesson that you can do anything if you work hard enough.
After years of painful struggle it was time to test my mother’s work and for the first time since kindergarten I was placed in a public classroom. That classroom was at Manchester Community College. I made an important decision then. The same important decision that each and every one of you graduating today made: we chose to do our homework, to read our textbooks, to study, and to work hard. We chose to be responsible and because of these choices we are here today, as examples of the success that comes from hard work.
If you are willing to work, there is nothing you can’t accomplish. Everyone knows paying for college is expensive but if you work hard this can be solved too. I started working when I was 13 as a soccer referee and because I trained myself I got a second job at the age of 16 as the shortest lifeguard in Manchester. When this wasn’t enough I added more, becoming a math tutor here at our very own college. I know more than a few of you have worked while going to school as well. Today, you can see that paying for all those classes was worth it. However, the time for hard work is not yet over but merely beginning. Whether that means transferring to another college, getting a job or trying to make the world a better place, if we work hard we will succeed.
Many people believe that going to a Community College is somehow negative. Somehow the students who go to them are not as smart as those students who are able or choose to go to a four year University. However, many people also believed that being homeschooled, I was not as smart as the kids who had been to a traditional highschool. Both of these assumptions are wrong. It doesn’t matter if you go to a two year college or a four year university or whether you are homeschooled or not. I have known students in both situations and I have seen some who have failed and some who have succeeded. What matters is whether your teachers care about teaching but more importantly whether you care about your learning. We are here today as proofthat two-year community colleges and homeschooling can and do produce smart, productive, hard-working members of society.
We, the graduates of the class of 2016, were not the only ones working hard for our success. It is important for us to remember to thank those who helped us get here today, not just because it was their obligation but because they truly wanted to help us reach our potential. So I would like to thank the professors who helped me reach this point in my life. I would like to thank Professor Groeneveld and Professor Edelenfor encouraging my love of math. I would also liketo thank Professor Burk who helped me learn a second language and encouraged me to apply for scholarships and participate in school activities.In addition I would like to thank Mr. Vig who helped support my learning financially. Lastly, but not least I would like to thank my mom who taught me that anything is possible.
In science energy can be stored as potential energy. Potential is what can happen, not what will happen. It takes work to transform what is potential into reality. We, the graduating class of 2016, have the potential for achieving even greater success in the choices that we make beyond MCC. Whatever path we choose,we must always do our best, work hard, and succeed in ways similar to those that brought us here to this point in our lives.
Congratulations to each of you and to those who helped you to stand here today to accept your degree. Thank you for sharing this experience with me today – it is a time for us to celebrate and enjoy this moment.