Commencement Student Speaker Nominees

And the nominees are…

Commencement+Student+Speaker+Nominees

Each year, a selection committee made up of a faculty, staff, and student representatives choose two senior speakers for Stetson’s Undergraduate Commencement, which takes place in May.

This year, Hatter Network wanted to feature all of the Senior Speaker nominees. Students are nominated via a nomination form by a member of the Stetson community. Sixteen students were nominated, auditioned with a 3 minute excerpt of their speech, and the selection committee chose two.

Of the sixteen, these 8 students wished to participate in our feature.

Allyson Ward

Bio

Allyson Ward will receive her B.A. in Russian, East European, Eurasian Studies with a minor in Russian. She also took a heavy course-load in her other favorite language, French. Ally will be moving to Amiens, France in September to work as a Teaching Assistant for the French Ministry of Education.

Excerpt from Speech

I recently found a picture of myself from when I was about 3 or 4. I am standing on my grandmother’s back deck, and I am inhaling an absolutely massive piece of watermelon. My straight-across bangs were hanging just over my eyes, which at the time were still way too big for my face. I am sporting a tee shirt with a school of fish on it, and one fish, spotted instead of one color like the others, is swimming in the other direction, with a little blurb of text on the bottom that reads “it’s okay to be different” on it. The shirt is covered in juice from the watermelon and I am absolutely satisfied.

I found that picture the other day and I thought about that girl. I thought about her dreams of becoming a princess, and a singer, and then a vet, and then a singing princess vet. I remember her never-ending energy and her incessant curiosity about everything. Remember when we had everything to learn about the world and absolutely no obligations? Well our lives aren’t like that anymore, but we owe it to the kid we used to be to live their dreams. We owe it to them to be the people that they believed we could be. We have learned to do that here at Stetson and we must continue that mission through the rest of our lives.

Rebekah Anderson

Bio

Rebekah Anderson is a Religious Studies major and Psychology minor. She is a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa and Psi Chi honors societies and will pursue a Master’s of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary starting in the fall.

Excerpt from Speech

When I look upon the faces of all of you seated here today for this occasion that marks both a sad end and a brilliant beginning, I am reminded of the words of a rabbi named Mordecai Schreiber. In describing humanity, he remarked, “There is a great diversity in unity,” and these words could not be more true in describing all of us as the Class of 2018.Though we as a class are all united in that we have spent our time at Stetson learning both in and outside of the classroom, our experiences here have undoubtedly differed from person to person. Despite the fact that so much of what we have done during our time here has been dependent on the people we are graduating with today, we each will come away from our time with one another having gained completely different perspectives, insights, and experiences based on the various differences we have that make this place so special.And when I look at the faces of all of you today, I am genuinely overwhelmed because I know that you will walk away from here today having learned incredible lessons that are completely different from the ones that I have learned—but that are just as valuable. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from serving as an RA here for three years, it’s that there is so much under the surface of life that we don’t see. Each of us carries our own story—and more often than not, we prefer to keep our narrative hidden away. But if we take the time to truly listen sometimes we’re fortunate enough to get a small glimpse into what’s under the surface of the people around us.One of the coolest things that I see happen so often in our first year communities about 2 or 3 months into school is that there is usually one night where a group of people will come together and one person will take the time to share a little bit of the narrative of their lives that they prefer to keep hidden away. And the next thing you know, another person hears something they connect with and they feel empowered to share too. And in a relatively short period of time, you find yourself surrounded by people you suddenly feel so connected with despite whatever differences you have. My hope for all of you as we leave this place is that you all will share the lessons that you’ve learned here with each other and with everyone. That’s going to look different for all of us—some of us will tell our stories, others of us will show what we’ve learned in our attitudes and our approaches to the world—but no matter what I hope that you will allow your story to converge with others here today because when we do that, the lessons we’ve learned become a mast that allow us to move forward in remarkable ways. When we embrace the diversity in unity and share our stories—we really are the pride of Stetson University.

Alexandra Overdijking

Bio

-Double major in Accounting and Business Systems & Analytics-President of Beta Alpha Psi for 2017-2018 school year

-Member of Women’s Rowing Team

-Working for Siemens starting July in the Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) which consists of 4 6-month rotations in different cities and positions. My first rotation is in Cincinnati, Ohio.

-Starting the Stetson Online Masters of Accountancy in August

Excerpt from Speech

Welcome graduates, faculty, family, friends, and those who haven’t seen this hour of the morning during their time at Stetson.We are probably all sitting here wondering where the years went. It seems like just yesterday we arrived for the first day of FOCUS, anxious about what to expect for the next four years. For me moving away from home was certainly out of my comfort zone, but as I reflect on my time here, it has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences of my life. The memories that we have created at this university will last a lifetime.Stetson has become home and coming here was one of the best decisions we all could have made. It has allowed us to grow as individuals. Where else can you learn the valuable life skills that college has taught us? Like how to procrastinate assignments to fit in another episode of The Office or how to properly distribute coffee intake in order to function on minimal hours of sleep…….As we move on to the next stage of our lives, we will remember to work hard, be humble, and take risks because in the great words of Michael Scott, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Although the next chapter of our lives will take us in a multitude of different directions, Stetson will always remain a part of us. We are Stetson and it’s a great day to be a Hatter.

Brittany Kovalskaya

Bio

I am political science and SPREES major with two minors in business law and Russian language. I started the Russian club at Stetson. I will be attending Stetson law next year with a full ride.
Excerpt from Speech
But all of us go through these types of stories and some form of pain, maybe not always physical pain, but maybe mental, spiritual, or intellectual pain.But we knew that coming in, we did not want to go into college feeling nothing and experiencing nothing, because with these painful challenges comes growth, learning and the understanding of who we are but most importantly who we will become.Each of us would rather feel that type of pain than nothing at all. But these pains are temporary, and with these pains come accomplishments, and those accomplishments stay with the pride we have built forever. It’s just like this moment right here.I am sure every single person here had to go through some frustrations and probably some tearful moments, but we are here today, the class of 2018. We are here and this moment will be remembered by each and every one of you as one of your most prideful moments.

Simone Seales

Bio

Simone Seales is a graduating senior at Stetson University. In her time at Stetson she has been co-principal cellist for both Stetson’s Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. Seales also won Stetson’s 2016 Concerto Competition and performed the last movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra. A strong passion for diversity in the arts has led her to pursue music as a platform for social change. In September 2018, she will be studying for her Master’s Degree in Music Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Excerpt from Speech

Our Stetson education has provided us with the foundational skills to engwith the world and challenge our own beliefs. This past Fall, our keynote speaker for Value’s Day was Irshad Manji, a Muslim, feminist-activist who spoke of “moral courage”. Moral courage can be defined as “the courage to take action for moral reasons despite the risk of adverse consequences.” In the past six months, we have witnessed countless examples of this from the Women’s Marches around the world to the March For Our Lives walkouts led by high school students. We, as Stetson graduates, must exhibit moral courage in how we live our lives from this day forward.

Stephen Grandoff

Bio

I am a senior economics and finance double major from Tampa, Florida. Four years ago, I choose to attend Stetson because of the reputation of the Roland George Investments Program and I’m glad I did. I’m graduating with a position at Lockheed Martin in Orlando as a financial analyst. In a few years, I would like to attend graduate school for a masters of science in finance.

Excerpt from Speech

It took me until my senior year but I have learned that the friendships and the experiences you make in college are of paramount importance. Barring that one microeconomics final, fifty years from now, none of us will remember that test we fretted over and lost sleep because of. Instead, when we return for homecoming in 2068, the memories of winning that Intramural Championship as a team, going to play bingo AND trivia on a Tuesday, and the nights of just being with friends are what we will hold closest to our hearts.College has provided us with so many incredible opportunities that in the moment, it is easy to view them as little more than an annoyance (ahem cultural credits). But now that I am about to walk across that stage, I realize I will miss these events. The reason why freshman year for all of us seems so far away – despite being less than 1/5th of our lives – is that each one of the one thousand three hundred and sixty five days presented us with the chance to make our college experience significant to ourselves and those around us.

Setyo Laksono

Bio

Hey, Setyo here. I am a double major in international studies and SPREES with a minor in history. I love to cook foreign recipes, read young adult novels, and watch football games. My favorite spot on campus is the balcony of library overlooking palm court. My advice to future seniors: Be sure to have a copy of your senior research saved on the cloud in case your computer crashes. I plan to teach middle school for a few years before attending graduate school and eventually pursue my lifelong dream of joining the State Department.

Excerpt from Speech

Life is full of failures. If you live life being afraid to fail then you will never make it out of your front door. Embrace failure, learn from it, and move on. Those words have stayed with me throughout the rest of my Stetson experience and I now share that with you. Do not be afraid to fail, we are not Icarus whose wings are made of wax. We are Hatters, and because of that we all have the ability to overcome our failures and better because of it.

Codi Mulberry

Bio

Hi, my name is Codi Mulberry. I am from Polk County Florida. Coming graduation I will be the first to graduate college in my family. The last four years I have dedicated myself to the growth of this university by fostering leadership, community outreach, and the betterment of the Stetson experience by being on Homecoming for the last two year, FOCUS for the last four, being the president of IFC, being a proud member of Delta Sigma Phi the last four years, and an active Bonner Scholar in the DeLand Community the last four years as well. Stetson has given me so much opportunity I wanted to give back  with my time. Coming post graduation I will be moving to Philadelphia where I have been hired at SEI as a Private Banking Associate.

Excerpt from Speech

With the opportunity to come to Stetson came with that very important lesson that I have only recently been able to recognize. You see coming to Stetson came with its own set of problems. Now I’m not talking about problems that make you worry where are you going to get your next meal or will you have a roof over your head. I am talking about the good problems to have. Yes, there are good problems to have in life. When you are deciding what college to attend, your major, A job to apply for, to raise kids, finance a house, If you will go to graduate school, or who you love. We are no longer worried about problems about survivability. Problems are no longer devastating to our well-being but come with promise and hope of a great future. Yes, these decisions are scary, they come with a lot of uncertainty, even doubt. Yes these decisions carry a lot of weight because a decision needs to be made. The truth is… is that there is …no wrong decisions. There are no wrong decisions.