it's all good
Have fun
Well
thanks
Hello Testing
Testing Hello
testing There we go Hello folks Welcome
and good
evening We're going to begin I'll I'll
give folks a moment to find some seats
and get
settled Thank you so much for joining
us All right we'll get started
So good evening and welcome to the 23rd
last lecture for the class of
2025 What an incredible honor it is to
be here with you this evening to
celebrate your accomplishments My name
is Jen and I work in student experience
here at the University of G And to begin
this evening I'd like to acknowledge
that the main campus at the University
of GE resides on the ancestral lands of
the Adawanderon people and the treaty
lands and territories of the Missosagas
of the Credit I also recognize that
Anesnab and Hodonosi peoples have
long-standing and ongoing relationships
with this land and that wherever you are
joining us from today Canada is home to
many First Nations Inuit and Matei
peoples
I also recognize the significance of the
dish with one spoon covenant and the
significance that it holds particularly
within this space and on this campus So
I'd like to pause for a moment to share
gratitude and to think about
responsibility within the context of
this
evening Tonight you are going to be
asked to reflect on how different
aspects of yourself have received
nourishment in various ways during your
time here You'll be asked to think about
learning personal development
connections and
friendships My hope is that you're able
to pause to appreciate these memories
And while you think um and while you
think of what you have gained by being a
part of this community my ask is that
you also think about how you're able to
share some of this as you move
forward This institution like many
institutions is a colonial structure It
is also a place that encourages critical
thinking the exploration of past and the
generation of new
ideas I'll leave you with a question as
we embark to hear our three lectures
this evening My question is what sense
of stewardship do you hold as you think
about sharing what you have learned or
maybe unlearned during your time here
So welcome students faculty senior
administrators staff friends family and
community
members wherever you are in the world or
whatever time zone or geographic
location We're so glad that you're
joining us And most importantly a very
special welcome to our lecturers as well
as those of you who have brought us here
this evening the class of 2025
So before we begin our lecture I'd like
to welcome Dr Bill Roseart our provost
and vice president academic to
officially welcome you on behalf of the
University of G Thank
you Good afternoon and welcome
It is really an honor to be with you to
be here with you today to
celebrate Spring is a very special time
on our university campus Even if as we
were reminded yesterday the Canadian
weather sends us a few unexpected
snowstorms it's still a really special
time Spring signals the conclusion of
our academic year
It is a time when students celebrate
finishing up courses or academic program
milestones and start planning their next
academic year
For a very special group of students the
courses you complete this term are the
completion of your thesis or graduate
project represents the successful
completion of your academic
journey Today is a very special
event Today we hear
reflections from a few very special
people
Today is about your
individual and collective experiences
and accomplishments both inside and
outside of your courses
So with that I ask that everyone here
and I know if you're doing this if I
hear noise I ask that everyone takes a
moment and reflects on some of your
wonderful experiences and
accomplishments here at the University
of G Then in a moment if you're willing
briefly share one thing with someone
sitting next to you So reflect and share
Over to you
You didn't go here So it's not fair Yeah
I didn't go Yeah I'm thinking about my
position though Just kind of So what's
your moment Well I finished two years
now and just getting to know the campus
and the people Nice
I might I I might get you to share to
the whole room if you share Now
I love the energy in the room
So we the professors staff and leaders
of the University of G are so proud of
you for the journey you have taken full
of rich learnings wonderful
experiences countless
accomplishments to reach this incredible
milestone Congratulations
So thank you Dr Roseart for your words
of welcome and for getting us chatting
together and kind of remembering why GE
is so special It's the community and
it's the people here
The last lecture began here at the
University of Galf many years ago with
the purpose of celebrating you the
graduating
student Today we've come together to
reflect and celebrate We hope that this
evening you are able to con give
consideration to your time at GE and
your many remarkable
achievements Today is a time to
celebrate those who are with us those
who may not have been able to attend and
also remember those who have le left us
too soon It's a time of excitement of
sadness
bittersweetness and probably a bit of
nervousness or some other emotions
finding their way in there This evening
you'll be hearing from three different
members of our Griffin family They'll be
speaking on themes of reflection
celebration inspiration and
determination One address will be from a
classmate of yours who is also in the
final days of earning their degree
Another by one of our faculty members
voted by you And finally we have an
address from a special member of our
alumni
community So let's begin
Every year graduating students are
invited to apply and compete to be the
student last lecturer A selection
committee composed of staff and of
course students makes the final
selection This is never an easy decision
and I really wanted to thank the
students who took time to apply and
those who took time to present to the
committee Thank you to all of the
members of the community who also wrote
letters of support for the applicants
The process really demonstrates to us
once again the incredible students that
make up our university and the caring
community they've helped build for us
all to be able to
enjoy It is my pleasure to introduce
this year's student lecturer to share
some reflections with
you Avery Bendel is a dedicated biomed
sciences student researcher and mentor
with a deep commitment to community
service leadership and academic
excellence
As a senior campus tour guide Avery
welcomes prospective students to the
University of GE helping to create a
sense of belonging Beyond leading tours
she trains future tour guides to develop
strong communication skills and enhance
their understanding of the campus
community
Academically Avery is a researcher in
the human performances lab where she has
authored several manuscripts on exercise
physiology and earned a publication for
her work in a sustainable case
competition As a former competitive
athlete Avery is a pre-ompetitive
gymnast coach where she focuses on
creating safe and empowering
environments for young girls in sports
Outside of academics and coaching Avery
plays the trumpet in the G concert band
and has mentored seniors in her
community who are learning to play the
instrument fostering meaningful
intergenerational connections through
music Avery's dedication to service
extends to her role as a volunteer at
the General Hospital where she provides
emotional and social respit to patients
Here she has developed a passion for
empathetically driven health care
inspiring her to apply to medical school
and pursue a career in family
medicine I am pleased to welcome this
year's student loss lecturer Avery
Bendel
Good evening everyone Can you hear me
okay at the back
Awesome I just want to say a huge thank
you to all who helped to organize this
event and for allowing me the honor to
deliver the last lecture today It's
truly an honor I know Jen introduced me
but I'm Avery Bendle I use she her
pronouns and I'm graduating from the
Bachelor of Science majoring in
biomedical science and minoring in math
Class of
2025 we've come so far and it's time to
reflect on
that I want everyone in this room to
take a minute and think about why they
chose G so many years
ago For many of us in this room if not
all of our graduating class we started
during the CO 19 pandemic and didn't
know what our programs were going to
look like
In fact that meant that a lot of us
weren't even able to take a campus tour
prior to making that big
decision But not to worry because for
the last three years I've been a proud
UFG campus tour guide So while you might
have missed out on your first tour of
the University of G I'm here to take you
on your last tour of the University of
G Starting out first on the corner of
our campus the Griffin statue
This was the statue that welcomed you to
the city of Galf that welcomed you to
our campus and which someone made you
post for a picture in front of before
they dropped you off in residence Now I
I hope this was a shared experience and
I'm not the only one with this awkward
photo living on my camera
roll But just off of the Griffin statue
we have to get to campus So you'll find
the bus
loop Now I know you've all been on the
bus at least once throughout your time
here Whether you packed on the 99
dressed up in your Gear uh headed
downtown for the Frosty Mug game or
maybe it was actually a Thursday night
and you were going downtown for
dollars Honestly sometimes it looked
like getting a spot on the 99 was going
to be more competitive than getting
tickets to the Taylor Swift era tour But
I digress I know you all got to campus
one way or another otherwise you
wouldn't be graduating shortly here
But to the real star of the show we're
headed to campus And just off the bus
loop you'll find our university center a
place that's packed full of resources
And in my personal opinion the best
resource of all the Royal City grilled
cheese sandwich with curly
fries Or maybe you're headed to the
brass taps for trivia night which is a
great way to learn a new Disney fact at
question 13 Or maybe forget the name of
every artist who has a song starting
with the letter P But we won we
won And academically speaking uh my
go-to study spot has to be the airport
lounge Perfect for people
watching because no matter what brought
you here food fun or last minute
cramming the University Center is where
we all came together making it truly the
heartbeat of campus life
But we're headed to class So let's go
visit Rosanski Hall for one last
lecture Now for those of you who might
not already know Rosanski Hall used to
be a barn way back in the day but now we
just keep our first years in there
instead And I can remember my first
class in there like it was yesterday It
was physics 1080 which some of you might
remember has an at home lab component
which in my dorm room went a little
sideways at times
But I know you've all sat in the seats
of Rosanski 104 whether it was for Psych
1000 which I feel like was a right of
passage for everyone to graduate or
maybe it was Chem 1040 and Chem 1050
which I know was a right of passage for
us science
students Or maybe you have fond memories
of micro or
macroeconomics Because what made those
classes memorable were the people
sitting on either sides of us struggling
through the same course content And
that's what truly united
us But classes are over so let's head to
the athletic center and burn off some
steam For those of you who bought the
NRG membership you'll know what a real
asset some of those workout classes are
There's kickboxing and Zumba and yoga
And in my first year the class that I
thought was going to be totally for me
was called hit the water or
highintensity interval training meets
water sport Now that description led me
to believe that the course was going to
look something like this And it wasn't
until I was already in the pool when I
met the real target audience of the
class senior women in the
community when I learned that hit the
water was actually code for aqua fit
But nonetheless I found my people in the
athletic center They just so happened to
be on the rock wall
instead And by my second year this
became my entire personality My friends
will describe me as crunchy
granola But every time I go rock
climbing I continue to meet students who
are engaged and welcoming supportive and
equally excited to help me reach new
heights as it were
So whether you are a varsity
athlete an inter mural champion or maybe
just a recreational aquafitter like me
just know that the connections you
formed in this space are foundational to
the community that you will create as
soon to be GE
grats But let's not get ahead of
ourselves We still have to get through
exams So let's lock in for one last
study session at the library
Coming onto the first floor you'll find
a group study space which is actually
code for yapping with your friends
staring at your laptop pretending to get
work done an art which I have personally
perfected Or maybe you're really trying
to lock in so you lock into that
Starbucks line for 20 minutes Great way
to kill some time And it is the largest
earning Starbucks in G Just a fun fact
But honestly for those of us who made
the library our late night study spot
it's oddly comforting to know that there
are other students out there who share
the trauma of the alarm going off at the
end of the night letting you know that
it's time to go home and
rest But with rest on the brains and the
studying coming to a close soon we're
going to be
alumni So let's take a stroll down
alumni walk or maybe down memory lane
and reflect on the
green Now Johnston Green is one of those
spaces that will forever make me think
of G It's a beautiful place to try
slacklining to have a picnic take a nap
and reflect on some of the historic
moments that have come to pass
throughout our time
here For example we saw Barbimer come
into existence
Most importantly we saw chat GPT come to
life And from this space right here we
saw the solar
eclipse Now while we might not have been
in the path of totality on the day of
the
eclipse Johnston Green is a space which
encapsulates lifelong memories And on
this day I was surrounded by people who
have impacted my journey as a Griffin in
the most profound of ways
So as we think about these connections
that have impacted us throughout our
time here it's important to express our
gratitude So let's travel back to the
heart of our campus to the bull ring and
deliver some thank
yous The first thank you goes out to the
Bull Ring staff for introducing me to
ice cream sandwiches between two
chocolate chip
cookies and the half hot chocolate half
coffee combo that fueled my fourth year
thesis
As we leave the bull ring a thank you to
Bob's dogs for live music and an
excellent handlebar
mustache Back at center campus at
Brandon Plaza I want to thank our
professors and our graduate students for
teaching us and mentoring us even when
it was challenging
I want to thank our support staff and
our counselors for guiding us through
last minute course changes for taking
care of our well-being and making campus
life
meaningful I want to thank the canon for
showing us that every day is a new
opportunity Now I've heard they don't
actually give out your diploma until you
paint the cannon So let's hope you've
all checked that off of your G bucket
list because the final thank you goes
out to the people that you painted the
canon
with The friends you stayed up late
studying with the friends who reminded
you to take breaks when you forgot and
the ones who made you belly laugh at the
most inappropriate of
times At the beginning of this tour I
asked everybody to reflect on why they
chose G And I'll be the first to admit
that I had no clue what I wanted out of
my university degree In fact that
indecision led me here by closing my
eyes and selecting something off of my
application portal And that is never the
advice that you want to hear from your
UFG campus tour
guide But that was my reality And I
think that the moral of the story is
that the right choice is often the one
that you make
So as we embark on new journeys at the
end of this semester whether you plan to
pursue graduate school to travel the
world to start a new job or maybe just
take time for yourself to figure it all
out I truly truly believe that whatever
you choose to do next will be right for
you
And the reason that I know that to be
true is because at the end of the day it
was never about the program or the
classes or even the buildings
themselves It was about the people I
surrounded myself
with It was about the community I was
welcomed
into And it was about the friends who
uplifted me along the way
So no matter what the next chapter of
life looks like for
you I hope that you continue to seek out
and foster
communities which make you feel as
welcomed
supported
inspired and
connected just as we were
here Congratulations class of
2025 We've come so far Thank you
Thank you so much Avery I'm curious by a
show of hands how many folks was that
your first GE
tour Okay a number of people I'm glad it
was such a great experience then Um I
want to thank Avery I I think her words
where she's talking about whatever
choice you make is the right choice for
you And I think that's so important and
so resounding as you're sitting kind of
finishing up your undergraduate degree
and starting to explore what those next
steps might look like because there can
be a lot of thoughts and feelings
happening at this time And it's
important to remember that you're
allowed to take some time to think about
it uh you're allowed to know exactly
where you want to go and what you want
to do and any combination in between
those options that feels like is where
you're at So I hope you can take Avery's
words and reflect on those and find some
comfort in those kind of in the days and
weeks ahead as you're finishing up exams
and you have those bittersweet moments
of thinking is this the last time I'm
going to buy a coffee at the bull ring
or um have an ice cream sandwich The
weather is warm today so maybe it's time
already So as you may recall graduating
students were invited to vote for
faculty members that you wanted to hear
from one last time While only one
faculty is lecturing this evening I
wanted to share with you the list of
those who are voted as the top 14
faculty alongside our lecturer
So you'll find their names up on the
screens beside me Together all of these
folks represent the seven colleges and a
range of academic
disciplines I'd like us to take a moment
to celebrate these incredible faculty
members So please join me in a round of
applause
So congratulations once again to all of
the faculty nominated It's obvious that
we have some fantastic people teaching
at our
university Thank you to each of you for
being the kind of instructor that
students remember For being the mentor
and the role model that past current and
future Griffins can continue to rely on
And now it's my pleasure to introduce
this year's faculty lecture Dr Beni Cook
earned her PhD from McMaster University
where she focused on youth risk behavior
and how families schools and the larger
community have an impact on the choices
youth make about early school leaving
substance use and misuse and sexual
relationships
She also completed a post-doal
fellowship with the faculty of medicine
at
McMaster population health research
institute where she studied the impact
of poverty on health out health health
outcomes for youth and their families
Her experiences in these academic
environments led her to launch her
entrepreneur entrepreneurial career and
I practiced that word too where she
determined that she would step into the
gap and provide youth with up-to-date
relevant and factual health information
so that they could make informed
decisions about their health and
well-being
She subsequently authored and
implemented peer mentor-led youth risk
behavior interventions in several boards
of education across the province of
Ontario Those experiences led her to
further her support and through her
coaching practice assist anxious and
neurode divergent students entering
post-secary school so that they might
enjoy a successful experience both in
and outside of the classroom
She continues to provide audiences in
the education sport and business
communities with her signature talks on
resiliency living an authentic life
embracing the now and recognizing that
adversities can be
opportunities She believes that
seemingly challenging experiences can be
transformative and they can oftentimes
teach us more than our successes
do Dr Beni Cook believes that we can be
stronger than before and often shares
her life's journey that includes raising
four children while attending grad
school owning a food truck for a time
which I have some follow-up questions
about loving her life as a lecturer here
at the University of G in the department
of sociology and anthropology where she
primarily teaches first large firstear
classes and kicking cancer's ass after
being diagnosed with breast cancer just
over 12 years ago
Her motto "Today is a new day," lies
bare her heartfelt belief that every day
brings a fresh new beginning and that
embracing it with joy and gratitude
enriches one's life as well as the lives
of those around us Dr Beni Cook is a
lifelong Hamiltonian currently enjoying
life in the downtown core with her
husband Gordy and their four children
now all young adults along with their
three dogs Daisy Stella Baxter and one
cool cat named Elliot It is with great
pleasure that I introduce this year's
faculty lecture Dr Deanna Veni Cook
Hey everybody how's it
going Thank you all for coming out this
evening this afternoon So beautiful to
see everyone Um I just want to start to
say or start by saying I'm so honored to
be here and you're my heart My students
are my heart And I say to you all the
time for those of you who've been in my
class it's like I wouldn't be standing
at the front of the class if you weren't
in the room And the whole purpose of us
being here together is for us to share
information and to learn and to grow and
to you know make it a a beautiful
experience both inside and outside of
the classroom I have a few little slides
that I want to roll through here but I
want to start by saying oh move over to
the mic here Um congratulations
This is an incredible
accomplishment And I know you've been at
this for a little while but you've been
gunning for this since you were four
years old five years old right In
elementary school building popsicle
stick forts and castles and soggy
Bristol board presentations that you
drag with you right All and then off to
high school that you go and sitting in
the guidance office trying to figure out
which post-secondary institution you
want to move on to and you know all the
sweat and the tears and the worry about
oh maybe I'm going to tell people where
I've applied or maybe I'm not going to
say anything just in case I don't get in
right and here you are what an
incredible accomplishment I'm really
really proud of you and I know all your
faculty members are really proud of you
we do what we do because we love you and
we want to bring whatever we can you
know to your
experience so congratulations and you
are incredible Cible and all of the
things that you've accomplished along
the
way Few things for you to think You
know what you did over these last four
years And I did a little bit of math
here You did 15 hours in class every
week on average 25 out of class study
hours on average per each week 10
courses per academic year on average
let's say over four years So
1,120 hours of study per academic year
times 4 years on average equaling
4,480 hours of total study on average
not counting summers of additional study
or placement or co-op or work study
experience And then what else did you do
Extracurricular
activities student government part of a
club or an association Safewalk Griffins
being a varsity athlete an ally times
that you stayed up helping a
friend maybe some pub nights along the
way games that you may have attended
peparali science fairs marketplace
shopping in the UC Starbucks lineups and
cold pizza for dinner because you had to
scurry in sub-zero temperatures across
Weine Guard Walk back to your space and
you've been really busy all of these
years and here you
are No doubt you have faced significant
challenges along the way I don't know
any students that haven't at some point
Everyone has those experience from time
to time and yet you p persevered Maybe
you thought at some point what am I even
doing here Like do I belong Am I going
to manage to do whatever it is that I
wanted to
do But you did even when he didn't think
you
could Well done So now thank you for
this invitation I have a few things that
I want to share with you and a few
thoughts as you prepare to move
forward The first point that I would
love to make with you uh for you is live
your authentic life And what does that
actually really mean living your
authentic life It means that you live
aligned with your values and your
passions your the your goals your dreams
Um and it's very much recommended that
you live your authentic life because
when you do the research shows us people
have and report greater life
satisfaction or happier or more likely
to show gratitude People who live
authentically trust their own
motivations and their own values And
it's indicative that you're true to
yourself You're acting and behaving and
feeling in a way that reflect those
values According to research from Wesley
College in the great state of
Massachusetts living authentically means
to put more focus on being yourself and
not some person's some other person's
version of who uh they expect you to be
And here the good part of this is is it
frees
you and frees you from the idea that
people need to agree with you or they
need to approve of your choices You get
to prioritize your peace your mental
health your goals your dreams You don't
need anybody's permission to be yourself
because you already
are There's another win Living
authentically I mean when you genuinely
and actually care you know about what it
is that you're doing you're more likely
to pick yourself up when you fall down
when you hit a roadblock when there's a
loss or a challenge And everyone
experiences those from time to time But
when you are living your authentic life
you
care It's not going to stop you You had
a failure You had a challenge You have
your eye on what it is that you want to
accomplish And it's about where am I
going to move
next brings us to the most to or to the
next point here Challenges are
absolutely necessary for our own
personal and our own professional growth
For anybody who works out in the gym
here you'll know you never get stronger
lifting the same weight It just moves
forward And the more that you push
yourself the more that you persevere the
stronger that we get So here's what
happens when stuff goes sideways
you hit a roadblock failure challenge of
some kind What's the first thing that
you do You take a pause and you're like
I have to problem solve What am I going
to do now Which way am I going to go Do
I still want to go in that direction And
what happens then is you have skills And
when you have skills you reach that next
level And when you run into another
roadblock which you will and we all do
eventually you have those skills that
you didn't have before So the challenges
actually work out in your favor even
though it doesn't necessarily feel that
way at the
time This one is my personal favorite
Never let anybody convince you that what
you want to do want to do or accomplish
or achieve is not
realistic because how would they know
How would they know what's realistic for
you They don't know what your gifts are
They don't know what your dreams are
They don't know what your goals are And
why should they Or why could they Or how
could they Because they're not you right
So here's a little scenario I want to
give you Let's say you're standing in
the Starbucks lineup in the library you
know that really long one And you're
standing there and you're having a just
a little thought and you're looking
around and somebody across the way you
kind of notice them and you look at them
and you go "Hey I like your shoes
and they go "Thanks How's your day?" And
you go "Good How's your day?" And then
you start chatting and you're like "Oh
what program are you in?" "Oh I'm in
that program." "Oh you're in that
program." "Oh which course are you
taking?" You know conversation ensues
Perhaps you share information You
connect with each other on social media
Oh you meet a few other people Next
thing you know you formed a study group
You get together every Wednesday night
or Tuesday afternoon or whatever it is
because everybody's got goals And the
next thing you know you've met your
future business partner Now somebody may
have said to you when you were in grade
8 or grade 11 or grade 12 if you said
"Oh I want to start my own business and
I'm going to do this and I'm going to do
that." And somebody said to you "Well
that's not realistic." Well how would
they know Plus here's another fan
favorite Anybody ever say to you "Well
you need something to fall back
on." Who in the hell wants to fall
back We don't want to fall back We want
to move forward And if you don't go for
your goals and your dreams then you
never really
know Back to my little piece
here One of the other things that I want
to share with you is that sometimes the
people who say to us that what we want
to accomplish isn't realistic are folks
who never even tried
And it's kind of a challenging thing
sometimes too when really good things
and I don't know if any student can you
know um identify with this Sometimes
it's easier to share losses with people
and they go oh I feel really bad for you
but when you have a really great win
sometimes people are not so happy to
celebrate your wins with you and those
are your real friends So if you've met
those people here that's
amazing The only things that are real or
true are things that have already
happened and everything else is a
possibility And here's the thing about
thinking that way that everything is a
possibility Um the possibilities in this
life are limitless So here's the
beautiful part I did a little bit of
research on
this People who have that idea that
everything is possible are more likely
to be happy They're more likely to take
risks They're more likely to be curious
They're more likely to find new
directions to move in And the part about
thinking about everything is possible is
that sometimes when we try to control
our future we forget that there are
going to be unknowns and that we think
we should have everything sorted out And
there's no such thing as have everything
sorted out all of the time As Avery said
you know you never know where you're
headed next And the decision that you
make is the decision to make and it's
the right
one Here's another one that I think um a
lot of students can really appreciate If
you need a permission slip here's the
thing about seeking approval Most of us
really want other people's approval That
what we're doing is okay How we feel is
acceptable We don't want to be
criticized especially if you know we're
afraid that we're going to fail in some
way Here's the thing though is when you
feel wholeheartedly secure about a
decision that you're making you don't
really need people's approval You go for
it anyway It's only when you're worried
or you're afraid you're like "Am I doing
the right thing Am I going the right
direction Am I making the right
choices?" And at the end of the day
people don't know how you think or how
you feel or what gifts you have or which
direction you're heading
in Which takes me to the next point here
I'm a firm believer that we all have
gifts And some of you have incredible
math brains Some of you are creative
beyond measure Some people are so
empathetic and know exactly how to
support each other Some people have a
drive for business Some of you can sing
Some of you have incredible baking
skills or whatever the case might be And
here's the thing about those gifts is
that those gifts were given for you to
use
So if you need a permission slip to use
the gifts here it is The point is is
that we need
you We need your passion We need your
intellect We need your compassion We
need your empathy We need you to use
your gifts Using your gifts isn't
selfish It's service And if that
provides you with a little bit of
encouragement or boosts you up a little
bit okay maybe I can do that Maybe I can
try that
Then I hope that this helps in in
whatever way The other thing is it's
like if somebody gave you a
gift and they wrapped it all up and they
had a nice bow on it and they handed it
to you and you went "Here's a gift." Do
you take that gift and put it on the
shelf and go "Okay I'm just going to
look at that here." Or are you going to
use it Because the point of the gift is
for you to use right So definitely the
gifts that you have be sure to embrace
those Maybe you're not sure what they
are Maybe you still need to uncover them
That's okay But you have those gifts to
serve other people I grew up in a really
um I'm first generation Canadian My my
folks were immigrants And if anybody can
relate to this you didn't want to get in
trouble at school because if you got in
trouble at school [ __ ] was really going
sideways when you got home
Being in trouble at school is a lot
easier Anyway fun fun fact Bottom of
every single report card every single
year Deanna will not stop talking in
class Deanna will not stop talking in
class Now I get paid to
talk Be excellent Don't halfass it
Matthew
McConnA You have your gifts You have
your goals You have your dreams Show up
be as excellent as you can possibly be
Right Point is though is you are also a
human being and not a human doing Those
are two different things And you know
I'm a mom of four kids Some of them are
here with me today It's like I say to my
kids all the time I promise you I always
give you my best Now granted some days
my best is far better than others And so
that might be true for you as well When
you give something your best you might
rock it I might go into a lecture or a
class and I walk out of there and I was
like "Oh my god that was great I loved
every minute of it Was really exciting
and I felt really inspired and I hope my
students did too." And then there are
other times where I walk out and I go
"Oh that was awful." But it was still my
best It was still my best
The other thing to bring to your
awareness as a cancer survivor is it's
always
today It's never yesterday and it's
never tomorrow It's always today Embrace
what you have in front of your in front
of yourself on any given day So I find
it sort of an interesting theme when
people say things like "Well if anything
should ever happen to me." No honey it's
not if it's
when We're here for a limited time And I
don't mean that like in a sad kind of
modeling way I'm really grateful to be
here But I will say you know every
single day that you have is a gift
Embrace the people that you have in your
life Embrace your friends your family
your neighborhood your community Be a
part of those
things and be present I mean how many
times do you do this You know you stand
in line you pay eight bucks for a coffee
you don't even remember drinking the
coffee Does anybody ever drive and not
remember how you got to where you were
going And then you're like "Oh god I was
glad I knew where I was going." Or this
is really fun too You take a route that
you normally take and you're going
somewhere else and you realize you went
the wrong way and you're like "Do I
actually am I conscious when I'm driving
or what's happening here being
present you know don't worry so much
Don't worry so much Anybody here a
worrier?" We got some warriors in the
crowd right Yeah Yeah It's kind of a
waste of time Do you ever notice that a
lot of the things that you worry about
never really happen Like if you actually
wrote them down bit by bit okay these
are the things I'm going to worry about
and then you looked at it at the end of
the week I'm going to guarantee 80%
didn't happen And we spend so much time
just getting sucked into that vortex
right And we think and we ruminate and
we ruin our own day because we're
worrying so
much Try not to do that you know and
being in a hurry Oh I went too fast
Being in a hurry Don't be in such a
hurry Here's the thing You know when
when people say "Hurry up Last chance
Sail ends tomorrow." No it doesn't
There's another one next
week I promise there's going to be
another one next
week Here's another one that I think is
really valuable for young students
graduating class young professionals
whatever You can always make more money
but you can't make more
time And when you're really young you
think you have it all and you have it
all in front of you for a really long
time And you really do have a long time
in front of you but you can't make more
time You can make more money Where are
you spending your time With who Doing
what If something is a waste of time for
you if a relationship isn't serving you
in an appropriate way if there's some
problem you know what are you doing and
why are you spending your time there
Consider I'm not going to get this time
back back when you go to bed tonight
This is one less day you're going to be
here right So thinking about who you're
spending your time with and where is a
great
idea Living with
gratitude Research shows this When we
experience gratitude and I wrote it down
it activates neurotransmitters like
dopamine and serotonin And these are all
associated with pleasure mood regulation
and it really does foster stronger and
supportive relationships It promotes
empathy generosity and social bonding It
reduces stress and anxiety Plus you'll
sleep better So you'll be happier I
promise if you live with gratitude
ask for help when you need it So I'll
say to a lot of my students you know
please come and see me if you have any
questions about anything if I can help
you with something you know put your
hand up or or you know whatever the case
might be And then I say I've said to my
students before have you ever put your
hand up in a class and someone says to
you well you should know that by now
Anybody ever had that experience You
should know that by now What ends up
happening when somebody says you should
know that by now then you shrink
yourself and you don't want to ask those
questions cuz you don't think you don't
want anybody think that you're foolish
or you don't know what's
happening Nobody knows everything Nobody
knows everything And frankly as far as
your faculty are concerned and and
specifically I'm going to speak for
myself when my students and they they
come and they ask questions or they come
to office hours or you know through
email conversation or whatever the case
might be I love it when they ask
questions cuz I know that they want to
know and and it's indicative that they
care and they want to learn
something When I was working on my PhD I
was a grad student When I had all of my
kids one of my kids had whooping cough
at the time when I was in grad school
Introduced myself to the doc who was
looking after her Um and he says to me
"Tell me a little bit about yourself."
And I said "Oh I'm working on my PhD
right now." He looks at me he goes "Oh
you're learning more and more about less
and
less." And I thought "Well it's not
wrong I am learning more and more about
less and less."
Um just want to say even really highly
educated people can be dumb asses from
time to time Ask for help
anyway Be very cautious of the
entitlement trap What is you know
feeling entitled means It feels like you
think that you deserve something that
other people don't Oh they took my
parking spot No they didn't It's a
parking spot There's another one over
there right Or you shouldn't have to
wait in the line so long for your coffee
cuz you're in hurry and the other people
in front of you look a little more
leisurely Here's the thing you know
about living like that feeling entitled
People who feel entitled feel like
they're angry and they're mad all the
time They literally live in a constant
and a chronic state of
disappointment When they don't get what
they want they're annoyed They complain
a lot Who wants to be with somebody
who's annoyed and complaining all the
time And they suck the joy out of their
own life
right Don't do that to yourself Don't do
that to yourself It's okay if you're
going to wait a couple extra minutes for
a coffee or a beer It's going to taste
better Here's something to consider It's
never a bad idea to be the best dressed
person in the room And what does that
mean exactly That means give your hair a
little Splurge on a new $10 t-shirt from
Giant Tiger I don't know Whatever makes
you happy You know enjoy yourself for
looking fly When you show up looking
like you care people believe that you
care So now here's the benefit to this
It boosts a person's self-confidence It
burst It boosts a person's self-esteem
When you put effort into your
presentation which can improve your
communication it can make you appear to
be more competent and you actually do
become more competent and more credible
Um and by the way for those of you who
work from home the research says that
putting shoes on for some reason
actually makes you more
productive Begin with the end in mind
How do you want it to go Whatever the
interaction is relationship problem what
do you want How do you want to fix it
Begin with the end in mind Where do you
see yourself going That will gauge your
behavior Right Yelling and screaming is
just going to throw gasoline on the
fire Do what you
can The other point to
make is that you are powerful beyond
measure I haven't had an experience with
my students A lot of young people feel
invisible They feel unseen They feel
like they don't really matter They feel
like they're only like one person in a
cast of hundreds in a classroom or on a
university campus or whatever the case
might be But you are powerful beyond
measure because you're half of every
interaction When you talk to someone you
decide how you're going to
respond You can gauge the temperature of
which way that conversation's going to
go You can turn the gas on and you can
make it more miserable or you can make
it a more pleasant interaction For
sure The other thing about silent
treatment those of you decide to move in
that direction that only promotes and
prolongs
misery You get to decide what it is that
you say what it is that you do what role
you want to play You do have an impact
on the outcome And for those swifties in
the room we do love us are some Taylor
Swift When she said "Look at what you
made me do." She was
wrong Speak kindly to yourself We all
make mistakes Anybody ever have really
negative selft talk Oh I'm so stupid I
shouldn't have done that Shouldn't have
gone there You know we say nasty things
to ourselves sometimes We would never
say that to our best friend We would say
to our best friend "It's
okay Tomorrow's a new day We can do it
again." Everybody falls short of the
goal at some point or
another And the comparison trap is
something to really consider And most of
us grew up being compared to other
people I don't know if you guys can
relate to this Oh why can't you be more
like your
sister You know why can't you be more
successful like your cousin And we
compare who we are and we're like "Oh
I'm a hot mess over here." And so you
know we have this negative self-t talk
about
ourselves Do your best to not compare
yourself with other people as best you
can I know it's hard There was a
fabulous research study done here at the
University of G several years ago around
people who were social media users heavy
social media users which is where a lot
of this comparison comes from And it had
very clear indication that people who
are heavy social media users are more
unhappy They're more likely to suffer
from depression and feel anxious because
everyone else is in
Cuba and you're here eating Mr
Noodles right Give yourself a little
grace Live out loud Be happy on purpose
If you're going to wait for all you know
the stars to align in the sky for you to
be happy you're gonna be waiting for a
long time because there's always
something Oh you know if I just lost 20
lbs my hair worked out a little better
today You know if I got a higher grade
on that paper or this relationship or
whatever the case might be then we're
always looking for something else rather
than just being grateful and enjoying
where it is that we're currently and
enjoying the experiences that we have
Here's the
thing Buddha said and I'm
paraphrasing what you think about you
become Right You thought about being a
university graduate and now you are
one Congratulations We love you and
we're very proud of you Go get them
Griffins
So thank you so much to Deanna Um I have
many aspects of my job that I I really
appreciate but one of those things is
usually contacting the faculty member to
let them know that they've been selected
And I really do think it's an incredible
honor And I know Diana's email back to
me I could just read her enthusiasm
coming off the screen out of the email
And so I think when she talks about
living your authentic life I I really
see that you live your authentic life
Excuse me And I want to thank you for
that Um and I also I love your point
about living life with gratitude And so
uh I'm really grateful for meeting the
three lectures this evening and getting
to kind of build those connections and
expand my community Uh so thank you so
much for all of your words this evening
So I joined the University of Galf as a
staff member just over two years ago and
everybody kept welcoming me to the
Griffin family and I didn't really know
what that was at the time and it took me
a while to understand what that meant
but I have to say that today I've come
to agree with the sentiment For me the
true value comes from the people and the
community here I think the fact that
each year a member of our alumni
community graciously accepts the
invitation to speak at this event is a
touching example of the Griffin
community in
action It's my pleasure to be able to
introduce our final lecture of the
evening who is a distinguished
alumni Mark Harrison is the founder of
the MH3 Collective a group of ventures
whose purpose is to connect people and
ideas to create social impact The
collective includes Humanity T1 Sidekick
and Sponsorship X In addition he
co-founded the B2I to support black
entrepreneurs leaders and change makers
and Park Street
Education a charity to remove all
barriers to children's education His
community involvement includes being a
board chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Toronto and a board member of several
organizations including the CAMH
Foundation and the Canadian Academy of
Recording Arts and Sciences/The Juno
Awards
Mark is a recipient of the Black
Business and Professional Association's
Harry Jerome Award the Association of
Canadian Advertisers 2022 Gold Medal
Award winner and a 2025 Marketing Hall
of Legends
nominee Mark is also CBC Metro Morning's
business columnist where you can hear
his regular takes on corporate and
societal matters I am pleased to welcome
and invite Mark to the stage
I want to ask you a
question When you hear yourself being
introduced when you hear your name
through a
loudspeaker when you see your name in an
email or a text what does it mean to you
Where did your name come from What's the
heritage of
it What does it say to other people
before they meet you Does it open doors
for you or does it put up
barriers My ask of you tonight is to
think about the legacy you're going to
build in your name and how you're going
to take that
forward My name is a slave name Mark
Alfred Harrison On all four sides of my
family coming to Canada we were escaped
slaves On my dad's side the Harrisons
and the Greens And on my mother's side
the Lawsons and the
Johnson's My mother's great
greatgrandfather Henry Dangerfield
Lawson was adopted from Ghana at 11
years old a slave in Maryland until he
was almost 16 years old and then he
escaped to CL
Canada Along the way he had to actually
kill his slave owner in order to get
across the border And he settled not far
from here in what was called the Queen's
Bush just west of G where a lot of
escaped slaves
settled When I think of my name as a
slave name think what does that mean
going
forward What does it mean for our past I
want to share some other names with you
When I was here at the University of G I
was fortunate enough that the athletic
director Dave Cop hired me as a student
to do marketing And the one thing I
loved about Dave was he immediately gave
me
opportunity In fact he let me come to
the staff meetings and the staff came up
with a very creative nickname for me
student I also had great professors like
Tom Funk and Brenda Whiteside who guided
me along the way But what they didn't
know about me was that I'm not only Mark
Alfred
Harrison I'm also Richard Lane
Demons I was adopted My mother was an un
unwed young woman Tried to take care of
me Couldn't I became award the
Children's Aid Society and I won the
adoption lottery by being adopted by the
Harrisons
But I always had this very fantastical
story that my mom and dad were in love
and they wanted to do all these things
for me and life just wouldn't allow it
In my 40s I met my biological
father Staring in a face and looking at
bones and eyes that finally resembled
mine was a weird feeling And I wanted to
know his story I wanted to know my story
I wanted to know the legacy of this
other name that I had
The first thing he said to me was
"You're the oldest of
eight plus two
rumors." Now some of you in this room
might be adopted You might come from
blended families Imagine being in your
40s and finding out there are seven
brothers and sisters walking on this
planet You don't know their story and
more importantly as a person running
multiple businesses two great kids and a
great partner volunteer high school
football
coach In an instant he took my legacy
and said I was a rumor And I ask you
this question If you'd seen on the
promotion tonight that you're going to
hear from Richard Lane Zemons versus
Mark Alfred Harrison what would your
expectations have been What would you
thought I'd look like What would you
think I'd be talking about What would be
my approach to this
evening Think about how your name
impacts every interaction that you have
I'm going to share another name with
you George Perry Floyd Jr A name that on
May 25th 2020 almost everybody in the
world got to know As he lay there being
murdered by a coworker he kept screaming
out one name Mom He wanted to see his
mom
Later that week after that horrific
murder I had a young colleague approach
me and say "You're the owner of this
company There are 75 people here and
you're the only black person How come?"
And I said to her "I've never thought
about
it I've never thought about it I've
never actually thought about it." And
from that moment on I've realized that I
had to create a new legacy for my life
And my legacy is to look at how I can
create belonging for the
underestimated What does that mean
There's two key words there One is
belonging How many of you have had that
moment in a locker room in a classroom
in your family when you feel like you
could be completely absent of fear where
you didn't have to worry about what you
said And we've also been in that locker
room where you've been bullied or in
that family situation where you're not
happy
Underestimated I would encourage
everybody in this room to get rid of
things words in their vocabulary such as
minority
underserved
disadvantaged With all due respect to
the white heterosexual males in this
room and many of them are also
underestimated Unless you're one of them
when you walk into a room and you look
like me or you look like people in this
audience if you don't walk the way
people expect if you don't talk the way
people expect if you don't love the way
people expect you are immediately
underestimated What makes them the
majority and you the
minority So that's my mission So I'm
building what I'm calling the above
ground railroad And I want to share with
you five questions I'm going to ask you
to take forward as you build your
legacy and you go forward in life and
ask of the world One demand equity Of
the top 100 paid CEOs in this country
there are more Scots than all the women
on that
list There are more Michaels than all
the women on that list
There are still glass ceilings and
sticky floors in this country Number two
I want you to amplify
voices I go to a lot of events and we
always read a land acknowledgement and
do nothing for our indigenous community
It's not enough The LA 28 games are
going to have softball and baseball
because they're American They're going
to have squash They're going to have
cricket And they're going to have
lacrosse for the first time in decades
And the Hodeni nation cannot compete
They just won the World Box Lacrosse
Championship but the International
Olympic Committee says you're not a
country Who decides they're not a
country They invented the sport So stop
making land acknowledgements and get out
and do something Number three change
ecosystems In the fall of 2018 Queens
University at their Senate decided to
take a black and white rule off the
books It was literally a black and white
rule It had been started in 1918 and it
said black people could not go to PE
school at Queens I'm sorry to get
emotional but my mother graduated top of
her class in London Ontario in the 50s
Second place student was some unknown
guy named David Suzuki and she could not
go to med school because she was
black That has a lifeline lifetime
amplifier effect on her self-esteem on
her financial abilities
Can you imagine
that
2018 I don't want an apology from Queens
I don't want to hear you started letting
black people in your med school at the
end of the 60s That rule was on the
books for hundred years So demand equity
amplify voices challenge ecosystems and
tell people to show you the proof There
are surveys out there that show that
Canadian CEOs believe that hiring
somebody with an intellectual disability
like my nephew who's autistic is going
to cost them on average $20,000 in
accommodation and it's going to require
70% of the people they hire to be
accommodated for It's actually less than
5% and it's
$350 You are going to be told things all
the time in your career And I'm going to
beg you to say "Show me the proof." And
the last thing I want you to do is to
fight for
belonging We are north of an absolute
crap show going on in the United States
and it's coming over here I've got
friends who are transition their
children are transitioning They want
different pronouns and my friends are
afraid to take their children to the
United
States We have to fight for belonging
The only way to come up against a bully
is be a bully As mentioned I chair the
board at Big Brothers Big Sisters
Toronto And I'm very grateful of our
team who built new
programs for big siblings for big
bunches so that queer youth in Toronto
can be paired with queer mentors so they
can actually have community events to
feel together and to feel
safe There's three other people I want
you to learn from that aren't here today
They're people that I went to university
with One is Emily Bane Emily Bane I met
her working at a Broadhouse on on H
Stone Road called McInness Landing that
isn't here anymore And she went from
being an immigrant to this country to
going to the advertising world and being
told that strategy was only a role for
men Strategy is only a role for men She
co-founded an agency called John Street
sold it retired in the early 50s But to
this day because of that economic
insecurity that she had as an immigrant
child she checks all of her bank
accounts And there's a lot of money in
those bank accounts But I want you to
learn from Emily I want you to learn
from Katherine Fogerty Katherine Fogerty
was a social work grad from G who really
wanted to fuel her passion of being
creative So she ditched social work She
launched a media company She created a
little television show you might have
heard of called Love It or List It which
is a global film And when I run into
people who remember her from university
they don't believe it's the same person
Now she's a true crime
author And the third person who I went
to university with who I want to
dedicate this conversation to about is
Jay Robinson Jay lost her battle last
year with breast cancer When I went to
school with her here she was the
residence hall president student union
president We negotiated the new rinks
together And Jay was always about
building community She ended up working
for the city of Toronto and created new
blanch And then she became a city
counselor including my city counselor
and at the time of her death she was
heading up the FIFA file Jay met her
husband when she was actually trying to
get students to sign up for some
orientation program here at Qu So I
dedicate this conversation to Jay And if
you were able to observe those three
women I think you'd see three things One
every day they sold themselves to the
world I get folks coming to me all the
time saying "I am super passionate about
this Hire me." I'm like really I've been
on your social feeds for a day I've
never seen you talk about it Whatever
you are going to be say it loudly to the
world The second they were all really
good at collaboration What do I mean by
that Bringing people along to work with
them Getting family members to buy into
the fact that they want to pursue their
dreams Getting employees to join their
startups And they did it by
listening They are great listeners And
third and most importantly they knew
that every single day of their lives the
most important sale they had to make was
to the person in the mirror As an
entrepreneur it's easy for me to get
clients As an entrepreneur it's easy for
me to come up with ideas But as an
entrepreneur the hardest thing I need to
do every day is sell myself to myself
So when you think about your name and
what it means and where you're going to
take it and how you're going to build it
I want you to think about dealing from
strength and every day selling yourself
to yourself As I was getting ready for
this presentation I had a bunch of
stories I was going to tell like the one
where I run around campus in my dreams
and I think I didn't actually get my
degree I don't know if you have those
recurring dreams but I have that's mine
I was going to tell the story that this
is the first time that I've actually
been sober in here I was going to tell
the story that when I worked for the
Ontarian and I was sports editor I had a
three pick afro and I had the
politically incorrect uh column that I
named called Afro Turf and I actually
had a logo
But I'm going to tell you a very simple
story And that's a story about a post-it
note that I wrote to myself in first
year And I took that post-it note to
every dorm room I had in every
off-campus room It was a famous quote
And that quote is "Life is too short to
be
little." Life is too short to be little
I hope you agree with me
Thank you so much Mark I feel like I I
need to pause and reflect on a lot of
that but I think for myself one of the
pieces coming out of it is is reflecting
on my name And I've reflected before
that my name comes with a lot of
privilege and lets me have access to
spaces in a different way Um but I I
really want to spend some more time
thinking about the legacy that I want to
build and kind of have with that Um and
I I love that quote that life is too
short to be little So thank you so much
for your
words
So I would now like to welcome to the
stage someone whose job it is to support
your student experience in all that she
does To close out this evening is our
vice provost student affairs Dr Melinda
Scott But thank you so very much It is
an absolute pleasure to be here this
evening and take part in this last
lecture event I want to say a tremendous
thank you and a tremendous
congratulations to all of our speakers
Dr Diana Binky Cook Avery Blendel and
Mark
Harrison Your words have beautifully
captured the heart of our university
experience and it's been an honor to see
your community through your reflections
I also want to acknowledge the
incredible efforts of our student
experience team and in particular Jen
Durst uh whose dedication made this
special gathering possible Thank you for
creating space tonight for us to come
together and to mark this important
milestone And to the class of
2025
congratulations Your university journey
as we've heard this evening has been one
of resilience and adaptability and care
for yourself and for each other And you
face challenges with
determination and embraced opportunities
for growth and engaged deeply with your
academic and your campus experiences And
from the moment you arrived at GE you
have embodied the Griffin values
And today as you stand here on the
threshold of graduation you can take
pride in all that you've accomplished As
individuals you've grown in ways that
will shape your future And as scholars
you've explored new ideas and challenged
perspectives and developed lifelong
curiosity for learning And as citizens
you've seen firsthand the power of
collective responsibility in building a
thriving community
Many many many moons ago I was sitting
in your place I was an undergraduate
student here at the University of Galf
when I was preparing to graduate And at
that time I was very unsure of exactly
what my future would hold and where I
would be going And I returned to the
University of G last year And coming
back here has reminded me of what makes
this institution so special And we've
heard it throughout the night It's its
people Being part of this campus and
this alumni community means being
surrounded by curious and compassionate
and engaged individuals like everyone
who's here this evening And as you
complete your final exams and you
prepare for
convocation I hope that you know and
hope that you feel that your time at G
has equipped you with the knowledge and
the skills and the values to take on
whatever comes next Your journey at U
ofG does not end here tonight and it
does not end at convocation You will
always be part of this community as
alumni and as leaders and as lifelong
Griffins So I hope that you go forward
with confidence and know that your
future is bright and all of us will be
cheering you on every step of the way
and remember that you are a student for
a very short time but you are a Griffin
for life So thank you all and I hope you
have a wonderful evening
And with those words from Vice Provost
Student Affairs Melinda we close out the
evening Thank you so much for joining us
and congratulations once again to the
class of 2025
Thank you Have a good rest of your
evening and have a good last day of
classes tomorrow everyone