hello
again I've returned as promised um so
we're going to begin good evening and
welcome to the 22nd last lecture
event um my name is Jen Durst and I work
in the department of student experience
so to begin with this evening I'd like
to acknowledge that the main campus of
the University of galf resides on the
ancestral lands of the adaw wanderon
people and the treaty lands and
territories of the msaga of the
credit I also recognize that anishnabe
and hodon 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 mate
people I also recognize the signific
ific of the dish with one spoon Covenant
and the significance that it holds
particularly within this space and
within this
territory so I'd like to pause for a
moment to share gratitude and to think
about the responsibility within the
context of this evening and this
event tonight you are going to be asked
to reflect on different aspects of
yourself and how you've received
nourishment in different ways during
your time studying here you'll be asked
to think about learning person personal
development connections and friendship
My Hope Is that you are also able to
pause to appreciate these memories and
while you think of what you have gained
by being part of this community my ask
is that you also think about how you are
able to share this moving
forward this institution like many other
universities is a colonial structure it
is also a place that encourages critical
thinking the exploration of the past and
the generation of new ideas so I'm going
to leave you with a
question what sense of stewardship do
you hold as you think about sharing what
you have learned or unlearned during
your time here at the University of
galf so welcome to the students faculty
senior administrators staff friends
family community members and alumni who
have gathered virtually and in person
with us
today wherever you are in the world
whatever time zone or geographical
location we're so glad that you're
joining us and most importantly a very
special Welcome to our amazing lecturers
this evening and to you who have brought
us all together this evening the class
of
2024 so before we begin our first
lecture I'd like to invite Dr Gwen
Chapman our Provost and vice president
academic to officially welcome you on
behalf of the University of gual
[Music]
[Applause]
hello and welcome uh welcome to the 2024
last lecture um you know I was thinking
this morning about attending the event
today uh celebrating the achievements of
the class of 2024 the journey that
you've been on here at the University of
gal for the last 4ish years uh and how
you're about to embark on a new the next
stage of your life journey and as I
thought about that I thought there are
actually some parallels uh between your
journey here and my journey as Provost
and vice president academic at the
University like many of you the summer
of 2020 was a summer of transition uh
that's the summer that I transitioned
into the provos role from my previous
role as dean of the College of Social
and applied human
sciences and like you I'm going to be
moving on to the next phase of my
journey this summer uh as I leave the
provos role and and start to transition
into retirement so I was reflecting a
little bit on life Journeys on
transitions um and and I think for you
this is certainly a very exciting time
um a momentous time uh but also maybe a
reminder when I draw those parallels of
how this is one of many transitions this
is ending one chapter of your life
Journey but there are certainly many
more to come back to so when I when I
think back to 2020 what a time of
transition that was that was the
lockdowns remote learning working
studying from home um and like my
transition to a new job your transition
to being a student at University of gal
did not necessarily didn't involve a
change of location or being physically
introduced to new people and new roles
but you did make that transition you
surprised yourselves with resilience
adaptability and determination as you
navigated your way through the next year
or two and you persevered you
demonstrated a commitment to your
education a willingness to embrace new
ways of learning and connecting with
others and now here we are today uh
reflecting on your journey over the last
four or more years the challenges the
achievements the fun you've had the
friends you've made uh the chapter of
your life story that you've written here
at the University of galf and as you
prepare to graduate and move on to new
adventures I encourage you to take the
lessons that you've learned during your
time here apply them to the new
challenges that lie head and there will
certainly be many of those Embrace
change seek out new opportunities uh and
never lose sight of the incredible
potential within each of you so class of
2024 this is your moment congratulations
on all that you have achieved best
wishes for the next few weeks also for a
bright and successful future ahead and
welcome to the 2024 last
[Applause]
lecture
thank you so much Dr Chapman for your
words of
welcome 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 celebrate and reflect and we
hope that this evening you're able to
give consideration to your time at galf
and your many Mar remarkable
achievements today today is a time to
celebrate those who are with us those
who couldn't attend and also remember
those who have left left us too soon
it's a time of excitement of sadness and
bittersweetness maybe a little
stress
yeah 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 for the
honor of being the student last lecture
a selection committee composed of staff
and of course students makes the final
decision this is never an easy decision
for the committee and I really want to
thank everybody who took the time to
apply and present to the committee uh
and also to thank those who wrote really
kind reference letters uh and support
for the
applicants the process once again
demonstrated to us that we have
incredible students here at the
University of galf and that there's such
a caring Community um that we all help
to build and
enjoy so it is my pleasure to introduce
this year's student lecture to share
some reflections with you
now Mana Hill Zed is a fourth year
graduating student in applied human
nutrition and who is aspiring to be a
future
dietician manah Hill worked for
Hospitality Services as the student
nutrition awareness program coordinator
where she led a team of 16 volunteers to
plan promote and execute nutritional
related programming across campus and on
social media
she is very passionate about everything
food which you might get a sense of
pretty soon and nutrition related and
has been very actively involved within
this community through her volunteer
work with clubs and organizations such
as the campus food market or meal care
additionally she has been involved with
other campus departments such as
Residence Life where she held the
position of residents assistant and
provided one-on-one support to a
community of Resident students for Pro
approximately 2 years while she is
honored to be achieving the significant
accomplishment of graduating University
the feelings associated with leaving
University are bittersweet manahel has
been looking forward to speaking to you
this evening to facilitate a reflection
upon past experiences and current
feelings as you look back at your time
at
ufg I'm pleased to welcome this year's
student last lecture manana
[Music]
[Applause]
hilled
[Applause]
thank
you
okay hello graduating Griffins and thank
you for joining me today at the last
student
lecture before we begin I want to take
some time to recognize that each one of
us here today has had her own unique
journey through University and we'll
have a unique path into the
future maybe you're headed to graduate
school
a full-time job or are taking a
well-deserved break with some time off
maybe you know exactly what your next
step look like or maybe you're one of us
who's not quite sure of what you want to
do
next despite the many past and future
differences in oura trajectories each
one of us is here today at this very
moment celebrating the exact same
accomplishment that is graduating from
University now I know that we're
expected to look forward to graduation
and to be excited to embark on our
future
Journeys but I know that the reality is
is that most of us are feeling
scared stressed and a bit lost as we try
to imagine what life would look like
postgraduation so let's take this moment
to relax to take a deep
breath and to remember remember to also
feel proud amidst all the other things
that you may currently be feeling as you
listen along to my
presentation my name is vanill and I'm a
fourth year graduating student in
applied human
nutrition as Jen mentioned I'm very
passionate about everything food and
nutrition related and I'm actively
involved in this community on campus
including my role as the snap
coordinator as well as my involvement
with other food related
organizations but before I bore you with
more details of my LinkedIn profile
let's just get right into the
presentation oh how did how did that get
there oh okay well all jokes aside let's
actually get into the
presentation let's talk about food this
is actually my first ever meal on campus
a classic woodf clan
pizza so you may be wondering why are we
talking about food at the last
lecture is it because the University of
guf has been ranked number one no that's
not why but it might have played a
little bit of a part in it the real
reason we're talking about food today is
because despite having unique identities
we share two things in common today
we're all
graduating and we all eat
food and that's why I say that food
connects us all and that the experiences
of university life are closely related
to the experiences of eating
food and let me
explain comfort and belonging so I moved
to the University of golf in the winter
semester of
2021 it was the PECO ERA with only 500
students living on residence soon after
moving to campus I recognized the
DraStic shift in my environment my
responsibilities and my
schedule I remember being overwhelmed
with all the different assignments
quizzes and the readings I had to keep
up with finishing off High School online
let's just say that it had been a while
since I was reminded of my academic
responsibilities I didn't have my high
school teachers reminding me to hand in
homework on time and I didn't have a
homemade meal prepared for me by my mom
when I got home from school unless
you're counting Mom's
Kitchen during this stress stressful
time many things brought me Comfort like
reconnecting with old friends online
going for long walks in the Arboretum or
ordering the exact same thing from the
hundred M girl every single time the
fried chicken sandwich with a side of
spicy
fries before I move on I want you to
think about some things that brought you
comfort during your time here at
University how do you plan to bring
Comforts into your life as we move on
and graduate
okay so let's go back a couple of years
for me this was my second and third
years of University this is when the
covid restrictions had started to lift
and university life was getting back to
normal this is when I found myself
really wanting to get involved on campus
and exploring everything that campus had
to offer this is also when I started my
previous position as being an RA and
provided provided support to a community
of first year students I remember
experimenting with my identity to see
what things I liked what I didn't like
and where my interests
were one thing that I one way that I
experimented with my identity outside of
getting involved was by trying new foods
like the ramen from yuc Chef Hall and
this was really Brave of me because I
don't like
noodles I know I know but before I say
more controversial food related opinions
I want you to think about how you put
yourselves out there during University
and experimented with your identity what
did this experience teach you about
yourself challenges everyone's favorite
topic so it's well known that University
life comes with many challenges these
challenges can be personal professional
or
academic one challenge that I continue
facing even to this day is experiencing
failure failure in University can be
minor like when you spend a considerable
amount of time studying only to get a
mediocre grade I mean I still remember
getting the midterm grade back for cem
1040 and being absolutely
humbled
yeah but failure in University can also
be major like when you give something
you're all only to not achieve the
outcome that you had hoped for or
thought that you had maybe even
deserved the feelings of associated with
failure especially disappointment can
make you feel like your efforts and hard
work was not
worthwhile you can start to doubt your
capabilities and worse maybe even
question your
selfworth it can and it is hard to cope
with these feelings and
emotions it's helpful to remind
ourselves that some things are beyond
our control and that it's okay to
experience
failure take for for example a time that
you tried to replicate a recipe that you
saw online you tried your best to follow
along and we're so excited to finally
get to eat what you have prepared for
yourselves only to find out that it was
the most disgusting thing you've ever
eaten okay it's upsetting in the moment
but you wouldn't spend too long dwelling
on this outcome maybe you wouldn't even
blame yourself maybe it was the recipe
that was at fault or maybe the flavors
just didn't suit with you at that time
so for next time maybe you would just
choose a different recipe or look for
areas of improvement in the same one it
sounds silly but looking at failur
similarly has helped me cope with my
emotions accept each situation as it is
and continue to look for areas of
self-growth
before I move on I want you to remember
all the challenges that you faced and
overcame to be able to sit here today
and to graduate
University as we move on and continue to
inevitably experience failure I want you
to remind yourselves that you have what
it takes to overcome these challenges
and you will be able to do so in the
future okay so while the rest of my um
lecture was about memories and
Reflections from the past I just want to
take some time to talk about the
present when I moved to University one
thing that I kept hearing was enjoy your
next four years they're going to fly fly
by and while I didn't believe it in the
moment I can confidently say that my
four years did indeed fly by I've been
thinking a lot about how this year in
particular has gone by so fast and I
think it's because I spent so much time
Reminiscing on the past worrying about
the future
Etc so whether you're one of the
students who's excited to graduate are
sad to be leaving or are stressed about
the future like me
one thing that I continuously find all
of us doing is failing to live in the
present and to really experience the
last few days of being an undergraduate
student with April 8th coming up soon
we'll stay in our last lecture and I
don't mean this one and of however of
our undergraduate journey we'll get the
last coffee at Bullring or a last crepe
at Mountain
Hall well some of these things may be on
your bucket list like the crepe at
Mountain is on mine many of the mundane
day-to-day things that you do May slip
by without you even noticing until they
will only be a memory for you to
remember the feeling can be compared to
absolutely demolishing a meal in 20
seconds and then regretting that you
didn't eat it
slower if you had ate the meal at a
slower Pace you would have been able to
enjoy it for much longer You' been able
to explore the flavor s and the textures
or the sensory properties of your meal
for much
longer so let me end the lecture with
some
advice this advice is to slow
down to take a look around and to really
Savor the last few days of our
undergraduate
Journeys and remember to also feel proud
because every one of us here today
deserves to feel proud for accomplish in
the feate of graduating from
University and that's all for me thank
[Music]
[Applause]
you thank you so much manahel I see some
folks are getting teary I think your
speech really touched a nerve so that
com combination of remembering all the
fond times the times with friends
studying late um and then also looking
forward to the future and doing that
with a sense of Pride but also a bit of
hesitation a bit of stress um and and
thinking back on some of the skills that
you've gained during your time here to
rely on those skills to bring you
forward uh within your next steps so
thank
you as you may recall graduating
students were invited to vote for the
faculty member that you wanted to hear
from one more time well only one faculty
is lecturing this evening I want to
share with you the list of those who
were voted as the top 10 faculty
alongside our
lecture they represent six out of seven
of our colleges and are a range of
academic disciplines they are Dr Matthew
Demers Department of Mathematics and
statistics in the College of Engineering
and physical
sciences Dr Neil J mclusky Department of
biomedical Sciences in the Ontario
Veterinarian
College Dr Andy Robinson Department of
animal bioscience Ontario agriculture
College Dr Kathleen rodenberg
Hospitality food and tourism Management
in the Lang School of
Business Dr Stephanie howls Department
of sociology and anthropology in the
College of social and applied human
Sciences Dr TK Salah Department of
biomedical Sciences in the Ontario
Veterinary
College Dr Dan grunspan Department of
Integrative biology in the College of
biological sciences Dr Dan Megan
Department of psychology in the College
of Social and applied human sciences and
Dr Ruben burga Department of management
in the langing School of Business
congratulations to all of the faculty
members who were nominated it's really
obvious that we have some fantastic
folks teaching at our University so I'd
like to pause and give those folks a
round of
applause and to The Faculty who were
nominated thank you to each of you for
being the kind of instructor that
students remember uh where students go
out of their way to click on a link and
email that I sent them to vote for you
um and for being the mentor and role
models that past current and future
Griffins can continue to rely
on this year's lecture Dr Don Mercer is
an assistant professor food Sciences in
the Ontario agriculture college at the
University of
galf Dr Don Mercer p is an associate
professor with the Department of Food
Science University of gal and is a
fellow of the International Academy of
food sciences and
Technology his research interests are in
food process engineering with specific
emphasis on dehydration and
drying Don will be retiring at the end
of April this year after 27 years of
service at the University of gal and so
I find it really fitting that this is
also Don's last lecture this evening as
well from 2003 to 2020 Don co-chaired
the international Union of Food Science
Science and Technology distant education
task force in developing and delivering
training modules for food industry
workers in subsaharan
Africa in addition he has participated
in the education for Employment Program
sponsored by the Canadian government to
develop food-based training programs in
Tanzania Dominica and St Vincent of the
Grenadines from 2014 to 2018 da worked
with the interamerican Institute for
cooperation on agriculture and the U
fost to present food processing
workshops for entrepreneurs and
smallscale farmers in the Caribbean
South America southeast Asia and Africa
he is currently working on additional
projects to promote the availability of
nutrition of no let's try that
again he is currently working on
additional projects to promote the
availability of instructional material
for small skill processors and
entrepreneurs prior to joining the
University of galf Don spent 10 years
with the research branch of the
Agriculture and Agra Food Canada and 14
years as a senior research engineer with
craft General foods Canada it is with
great pleasure that I introduce this
year's faculty lecturer Don
Mercer
you
so thank you ever so much for the kind
introduction Jen I really appreciate it
and it's so nice to see all of you here
today I hope I can live up to your
expectations welcome to the last lecture
yours and mine today we are here to
celebrate an important transition in our
lives for many of us our academic lives
are nearing completion and a new phase
of life will begin for those who have
decided to pursue further academic
Endeavors you too will be experiencing a
significant
change when I accepted the honor of
giving the last lecture I was told that
some words of inspiration would be
appropriate however as I stand here in
front of you the ins ins Iration is like
a giant wave coming from you the gradu
of
2024 rather than from me so let's take a
look back to see where we have been then
let's consider some of the things that I
would like to share with you about my
journey from graduation to pending
retirement so where did you come from
the simple answer to this question
question is
everywhere you've all got amazing
stories to tell about your decisions to
come to the University of gal and how
you got here just take a few seconds to
pause and reflect on your journey to the
University of
gual
next why did you come here once again
everyone has their own personal reasons
but hopefully they involve the pursuit
of academic
Excellence although the social aspects
are important covid-19 seemed to put a
damper on
these this is a heading of a covid-19
news update from our then University
president Dr Franco Vino it was dated
Friday the 13th of March
2020 it was in the early stages of the
pandemic and it said that classes would
be suspended for a week and more
information would follow little did we
know the tremendous impact that this
would have on our lives especially for
those of you who were entering your
first year at gual in September of
2020 with respect to academic Excellence
our seven colleges have done an
absolutely Stellar job in that
regard we are also fortunate to have a
high quality of academic and campus life
and let's not forget the administration
and staff members who make this Campus
Community run so
smoothly now I'd like to share a few
experiences and approaches that I've
picked up along the way since my
graduation over 50 years
ago throughout your working life you
should be continuously striving to build
a network your network of contacts will
be one of the most valuable assets you
never realized you had looking back I
cannot believe how fortunate I was to
have a broad Network in place it led me
on a journey from completing my
doctorate chemical engineering at the
University of waterl to the Department
of Food Science at the University of guf
as my retirement draws ever nearer I
have no idea where things will go from
here however my network has continued to
expand and I'm optimistic about the
future one thing to keep in mind is to
never burn Bridges behind you this is
your network and possible future
Lifeline for those of you in engineering
this is a rather important Bridge built
in
1779 it was the world's first Iron
Bridge and signaled the beginnings of
the Industrial
Revolution it is still standing today
which is an absolute testimony to the
ability of the
builders you should never stop
learning you should expand your horizons
and interest and share them with those
around
you this is a diagram of how I Envision
my immediate sphere of learning we have
a daughter who is an
archaeologist a son who studied
political science another son studied
environmental sciences and our other
daughter studied General Sciences my
wife is a nurse by training and brings
that knowledge and more to our family it
is absolutely amazing how much
information can be exchanged during our
conversations and you as your individual
circles expand so too does the
opportunity to learn and gain insight
into other aspects of
Life try to learn from your mistakes
mistakes can be learning
opportunities mine are
tntc for those of you in
microbiology you know that that means
too numerous to count we won't go into
these here but there are a lot of
stories that begin remember the time
when Dad and it's just downhill from
there it would be good for you to have
an escape mechanism like can be a
pressure cooker and you need to have a
relief mechanism so try to cultivate
outside interests these may be Solo or
group
activities Hobbies such as geneology
which is one I'm working on right now
creative writing cooking nature and a
host of others can provide welcome
diversions When Things become hectic
Sports can provide opportunities to
spend time with friends as does gaming
but hopefully not to
excess whatever you do make time for
yourself your friends and your family be
sure to treasure those moments because
they are pure
gold don't be too serious have a sense
of humor and try to see the lighter side
of life you never have to totally grow
up I knew what slide that
was this is my test and exam tie I've
worn it to these special occasions for
almost 25 years and I'm wearing it today
I recall walking through the University
Center one test day and a little boy
commented to his mother look Mommy that
man's wearing a Winnie the Poo tie she
responded wanted in a voice that was
loud enough for me to hear yes dear some
people never grow
up I took this as a compliment even
though I'm sure it was not intended to
be
one I also think it's important to put a
positive spin on things and not to dwell
on
negativity no one in my classes ever
yawns out of boredom they are so
stimulated from the CH material that
their brains require extra oxygen that
only a yawn can bring at least that's
what I tell
myself I'm still working on
rationalizing how to handle things when
someone actually falls
asleep you should learn to deal with
disappointment not everyone will agree
with you nor approve of what you have
done and that's their right to do so a
student one wot once wrote a note to a
friend beside her during one of my
lectures fortunately it was not here at
gal it said he expects us to understand
this stuff what an
idat unfortunately she wrote it on the
back of her assignment which she then
submitted anybody done that
my response was minus one2 for spelling
what else could I
say the day after it was returned I
received a most apologetic
email try to be a good
communicator the world talks in code
also known as acronyms so please do not
fall into this trap as an example AI
always meant artificial intelligence to
me when I was in the food
industry but it also means artificial
insemination as I found out during my
first meeting with my DG in the RB of
aafc on the CF in
Yow translating this into plain language
it was my first meeting with my director
General in the research branch of
Agriculture and Agra Food Canada on the
central experimental Farm in Ottawa we
had a good laugh over our
misunderstanding and it was a wonderful
ice
breaker you should feel good about
yourself you've earned the right think
about your accomplishments they are many
remember the
adversities of covid that you overcame
but don't dwell on them think about the
skills that you have mastered and
perhaps perhaps try to recall some of
the ones that you have
forgotten you're almost you've almost
completed what once seemed like a
formidable task and you're the better
for it while you're at it try to make
someone else feel good too it's
contagious in a positive
way have fun and don't forget to say
thank you these were always my mother's
words whenever I went somewhere and I've
never forgotten them Bowser here reminds
me of all the students who have said
Thank you over the years he was a gift
from one of my students a simple thank
you can go a long way so be sure to
acknowledge the efforts of those around
you these have been some of my
experiences and I appreciate you letting
me share them with you so where do gual
graduates go from here the answer to
this question is really quite simple
everywhere we just reverse the
arrows here's something to keep in mind
no matter where you go the University of
gal will always be your academic home I
am reminded of a rather cynical
definition of Home Port betrayed by
Robert Frost who said home is the place
where when you have to go there they
have to take you in which is from Death
of The Hired Man contrary to what Frost
has said you will always be welcome home
whenever you return to
gual now for the last words of the last
lecture always remember that you are
part of the Griffin family with emphasis
on the word family carry that knowledge
with pride wherever life's journey takes
you yes I've had fun and thank you ever
so
[Applause]
much
for those of you joining us online Don
just received a standing ovation um Don
thank you so much for your words of
wisdom this evening I know it's part of
my distinct pleasure within my role to
get to uh call up the faculty member out
of the blue and let them know that
students want to hear from them at the
last lecture and I know um Don I left
him a message and then he replied uh and
I picked up the message and he said
thank you for the terrifying
invitation so thank you for raising to
the challenge um and I knew we were
going to get along really well when you
came to my office and and shared so many
stories with me and it was so obvious
why you were uh voted to be the last
lecture this year thank you
very uh so when I joined the University
of of gu with was a little over a year
ago uh I kept being welcomed into this
Griffin family that Dawn kept talking
about I didn't really know what that
meant at the time um but everybody kept
telling me that there was something
special at gal and over the past year I
have to say that I've come to agree with
the sentiment and for me this special
aspect really comes from the people and
the community here I think the fact that
each year a member of the alumni
Community graciously accepts the
invitation to speak at this event event
is a touching example of of the Griffin
family in
action it is my pleasure to able to be
able to introduce our final lecture this
evening who is a distinguished
alumna Gabriella Sundar Singh is an
actor singer and Dancer born and raised
in Toronto Ontario her time at the
University of galf was where her love
for theater truly bloomed after
completing her studies at ufg she
pursued post-graduate studies at
Centennial College College in Children's
Entertainment studied acting at the
National Theater School of Canada and
recently completed her ma in drama at
the University of
Toronto she is currently performing her
sixth season at the Shaw Festival in
Niagara on the Lake and Gabriella's work
has taken her from stage to screen but
her most enjoyable work comes in the
form of teaching she has spent many
years teaching dance and drama and
enjoys coaching and mentoring young
artists to help them Reach their
creative
goals being back on the ufg campus is an
incredible gift and a privilege she is
thankful to the alumni Affairs and
student experience teams at the
University for including her in this
special event so I am now pleased to
welcome Gabby to the
[Applause]
[Music]
stage good evening every everyone
hi my name is Gabriela sersingh I
graduated from the University of galf in
2011 from the theater studies program
and it is an honor to be here tonight as
your alumni lecturer for the last
lecture um again I want to say a
heartfelt thank you to those in student
experience alumni and advancement and
student affairs who invited me here
tonight and to everyone who organized
this event thank you to manahil Z and Dr
Don Mercer for your thoughtful and
encouraging words and thank you to
everyone here in attendance tonight the
community of the University of GTH thank
you for such an exciting return to
campus okay now for the matter at hand
congratulations to the class of 20124
you did it you are here at this juncture
about to turn the corner into new
adventures explore wild new territory
and gaze upon exciting
possibilities I remember standing or
sitting exactly where you are wondering
what the future might hold for me with
this voracious appetite to Take On The
World outside of
ufg now during these past years as a ufg
grad I have had countless opportunities
to speak to students and Young Artists
wishing to pursue a career in the Arts
but what makes tonight special is this
opportunity Unity to speak directly to
the ufg community and share a little bit
about what made my time here so
special there is a context that we share
that makes our understanding of the
school
unique I mean who else knows about the
beauty of lying out on Johnston green on
a sunny
day or running to the other end of
Campus trying to get to that class
passing the leaves as they change color
in the fall so with our shared
experiences in mind
I wish to share a few memories
moments and experiences gained during my
time on this campus and Beyond just
think of them as provocations for what's
next be ready for and embrace change
change is scary it is unknown often out
of our control and new but without
embracing change there is no possibility
and this is coming from some someone who
vehemently dislikes change but without
change my academic career and
professional career would never would
have looked so so
different without embracing change I
never would have had the courage to
change my acceptance here at ufg from
biology to theater
studies I never would have experienced
the head first immersion into the Arts
that our school offered me and I never
would have discovered my passion for
performance and my love of acting
see I had this dream from the age of 11
of being an
orthodontist uh I wanted to help people
correct and maintain their healthy and
beautiful teeth this is a true story but
in the back of my mind I had the secret
dream of Performing of Hosting
children's television and pursuing
something that would take me away from
the path I was currently on so when ufg
offered to change my acceptance to
theater studies change stood before me
but so did risk and
wonder the offer turned into four of the
best years of my life I
learned the 101 of theater from Anne
Wilson how to hang lights from the late
great Paul
or sew costumes from Deni Ono jofra
learned about theater design and
production from Pat flood Gerard and
Diana Smith and Chris Clifford and took
my first steps into exploring acting
with Alan fwad Trevor cob and Judith
Thompson and I do think it was important
to share their names because they made
such an impact on my life I was
changed so I learned to anticipate
change see it coming and embrace it with
open
arms get to know and honor
yourself I work both on stage and on
screen and in an industry where the way
I look and the way I sound sometimes is
the determining factor for whether I
book the gig so I have heard it
all my eyes are too big uh I don't have
the right sounding voice my head's the
wrong shape I don't have the right
look the list goes on and on and any one
of those criticisms I could have taken
them and let it stop me on my path it
could have altered the way I do my work
it could have altered the way I feel
about myself but instead I used all of
that unhel full feedback to fuel the
growing fire inside I know
myself I know what I'm capable of and I
will keep pursuing my passions and
interests to the highest
degree my time here at ufg helped build
that resilience inside of me I had proof
that during my time here if I loved what
I did worked as hard as I could at it
showed gratitude to those around me and
was great ful for the opportunities I
had nothing could stop
me and by knowing and honoring myself it
has led me back to places like this
campus where my authentic self can shine
in a place that has always always
encouraged me to be
me build grow and nurture your
community
echoing what uh Dr Don merer said
earlier Community does not just happen
Community is the people you invest time
in those you care for those who look out
for you and encourage you to be the best
versions of yourself possible
Community is strength when you need it
most my deepest understanding of
community comes from what I learned here
Community began during my first days
here making friends and Lennox C study
intensive up north as we explored a new
school together I grew my community when
I was president of La go BS okay um when
I was noov and when I shared the stage
with other members of our theater
studies Department to this day the
people who get the most excited for my
next gig my new show my next
Endeavor are those people at my at who
are part of my Golf
Community my friends my professors my
mentors they write to me with words of
encouragement they come to see my
shows and they let me feel a part of
something bigger than
myself I go into every new space every
new rehearsal room every audition room I
hit every stage looking for a sliver of
the same sense of community that I
experienced here and let me tell you
there is Magic in the water here in
galf what we have is truly something
special
finally I thought it was apropo to offer
a quote from the namesake of the
festival that I work at as mentioned
before I'm in my sixth season at the
Shaw Festival uh as an actor down in
Niagara on the Lake all because of the
first steps I took here at
ufg I'll read a a bit more to give you
the context of this quote it's from
George Bernard Shaw's the doctor's
dilemma attention and activity lead to
mistakes as well as to
successes but a life spent in making
mistakes is not only more honorable but
more useful than a life spent doing
nothing the one lesson that comes out of
all of our theorizing and experimenting
is that there is only one really
scientific Progressive method method and
that is the method of trial and
error so I made one of the biggest
mistakes of my life in the F first few
weeks here I auditioned for the
mainstage show that now professor
emeritus Rick nles was directing I have
to say I don't think my rendition of one
of Shakespeare sonnets was what he uh
was looking for oh uh I had made a huge
mistake or so I had
thought see I um I forgot all of my
lines I was so nervous but Professor
nolles was so generous and let me try
again and again until essentially um the
audition turned into a lesson on how to
audition for which I was very grateful I
took those lessons forward with me and
instead of an acting role I was offered
the position of assistant stage manager
which was a critical turning point for
me without the love of all the elements
of theater that grew out of that semeer
master I would not be where I am today
so uh a bit of trial and error and
making some mistakes has led me to a
fulfilling career and ufg is the reason
why so thank you for your time this
evening and if there is any one thing I
can leave you with Let It Be
this to the graduating class of
2024 you are exactly where you need to
be right now
those of us who are here in support of
you as professors and mentors and
community members and honored onlookers
like myself we are so proud of you and
we cannot wait to see what you do next
to the class of 2024 to you
[Applause]
congratulations
thank you so much Gaby um so many of
your words really touched me as I was
sitting here in this room and I think um
we've heard a lot of kind of those
similar themes from each of our lectures
and so I hope you're taking away some of
these broader messages um I love Gabby's
words of you are exactly where you need
to be right now um that's so beautiful
so whatever emotions you're feeling in
this moment are the right ones there
aren't any wrong feelings and so I hope
as you um take these messages away and
and kind of think on them over the next
few days you're able to feel that sense
of Pride and really look back on your
community here at University of
gal and so now to close off our evening
I would 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
proo Prov student affairs Dr Melinda
[Applause]
Scott well what an
incredibly difficult act to follow are
three just wonderful speakers but it is
an immense pleasure to be here this
evening and to participate in this last
lecture event and I want to just with my
whole heart congratulate our speakers
manah Hill Zed gabrielis sers Singh and
Professor Don Mercer um it has been an
honor to experience the university uh
and Community vicariously through your
words and through your
lives I also really want to acknowledge
the work of our student experience team
a particularly Jen Durst and those other
individuals who've worked so hard to
make this evening happen allowing us to
spend this time together and to mark
this important Milestone and this
important
celebration class of
2024
congratulations throughout your academic
Journey you have demonstrated resiliency
the ability to navigate challenges and
exhibited caring uh for yourself and for
your fellow students you have remained
determined to complete your degree
despite the many pivots that we've heard
about this evening that you were
expected to make particularly in the
early years of your studies and you have
engaged with your coursework the student
experience opportunities and your
communities you've embraced and
exhibited the Griffin values that you
were introduced to when you first uh not
just even when you first stepped on to
this campus but when you were first
introduced to this campus you can and
you should be proud of all all you've
accomplished in your time with
us as a person you have grown and
developed into an individual that is
ready to make their way in the world as
a scholar you have been presented with
opportunities to explore ideas and to
develop an understanding and
appreciation for how things work and we
hope that we've instilled in you a
desire for curiosity and for lifelong
learning as a citizen you have
experienced both the individual and
Collective responsibilities required for
communities to be successful and to
thrive I have very recently returned to
the University of galf and it is my
privilege to be part of a campus and now
alumni community that continues to
generate curious and compassionate and
engag students like all of you I wish
you great success as you complete your
academic work and move into the next
stage of your life and your career
Journey your academic goals are within
your grasp and in just a few short weeks
you will have completed your exams and
be ready making your plans for
convocation your degree will be earned
and it's going to be in your hands uh so
for my personal experience I can tell
you that the completion of your
undergrad does not mean the end of your
relationship with the University of galf
we invite you to continue as members of
our alumni community and as you leave
remember that you have the skills and
the knowledge and the values that your
time at G has provided you you're ready
your future looks bright uh go out and
make your way in the world and we're all
going to be here cheering you on and
watching you throughout your journey so
remember that you're here for a short
time but as our uh illustrious panel
have said you are a griffin for life so
thank you very much and I will pass it
back to Jen to conclude the
evening
and so with those words from the vice
Provo student affairs we're ready to
close out our evening I do want to
mention that if you don't need to run
right away we have um a backdrop over
there so you can take some photos we
have a few props we also have a place
where you can leave some of your
University of golf memories on the wall
um to be able to share with each other
and so with that thank you so much for
joining us and congratulations once
again class of 2024 have a wonderful
[Applause]
evening