Commencement Address, Loyola University Chicago School of Education, May 2015
To view the address, click on the link below and go to the School of Education box (picture of student with "I was"), then click on the arrow and advance to about 48 minutes. http://livestream.com/loyolauchicago/CommencementGentile2015
COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Karen M. O’Brien
May 5, 2015
Thank you – it is a great honor to speak to you, Class of 2015, parents, family, friends, and esteemed faculty. Today, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago, I would like to reflect on what has brought us to this moment, express gratitude for what we have been given, and encourage the graduates to use their gifts to make a difference in our world.
I want to begin by honoring my grandparents who immigrated to the United States from Ireland in the early 1900s. From a land devastated by poverty, they embarked on a courageous and difficult journey to give their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren better opportunities. My grandparents never would have imagined that their granddaughter, a first generation college student, would receive the honor of speaking to you today. Thus, my first message for the graduates is to dream big, take risks and work hard. Like my grandparents, you cannot imagine what the future holds for you. On my graduation day, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. In time, I made my way to a meaningful career, met a very special man, and welcomed two wonderful children who came to us from Korea. So take risks graduates, work hard, and be open to the wondrous surprises that come when you journey beyond what is known.
Second, let us remember and be grateful for the people on our journey. For many of you, your parents sacrificed to pay tuition, your siblings, aunts and uncles encouraged you, and your sweethearts helped make college fun. I am most grateful for my parents, who did not have the opportunity to go to college but stressed the importance and value of education and ensured that all five of their children attended excellent colleges – with Loyola being the best and that other Catholic college in South Bend a close second!
Many of us also are very grateful for the friendships we made at Loyola University. As I reflect on my undergraduate and graduate friendships, I remember lots of laughter, crazy college adventures, and long runs with a treasured friend along a changing lake. In the years to come, hold on to your closest “heart” friends. These friends walk beside us, sharing the joys and sorrows that life brings. We all will experience profound losses and deferred dreams, and often it is our friends who sustain and comfort us in our most difficult moments. Even the importance of those friends who you will say goodbye to today will not be diminished as they played a significant role in your life.
As a professor, I would be remiss if I did not mention the importance of gratitude toward your faculty. During your tenure at Loyola University, there likely were memorable professors who challenged you and changed the direction of your path. I started my undergraduate career at Loyola as a chemistry major, a mistake that became very clear after my lab equipment caught on fire and my chemistry professor talked with me about the importance of “finding the shoes that best fit.” I am grateful for that professor, and for having the good sense to find a field that really matched my strengths and passion. Graduates, it is so important to find a path that fits you well. There are some who would like to chart your course or advise you to do it their way or even the “Right Way” – meaning the same old way that it always has been done. For you to thrive and for us to best educate and counsel others, we need for you to take flight in ways that even we have never dreamed. Think about your strengths, think about what you love to do, and then pursue your path to find the shoes that best fit you.
As this special time of your life comes to a close, I hope that you will strive to use the gifts that you have been given to make a difference in our world. At Loyola University, grounded in our faith traditions, we receive the foundation for helping those less fortunate, challenging unjust practices, and solving difficult problems. You, as graduates of the School of Education, are especially poised to improve the lives of others. After my college graduation, I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, an organization similar to the Peace Corps but in the United States. I was placed in an inner city shelter in Kansas City to work with abused women and their children. I know my parents had hoped for a paying job after graduation, rather than volunteer work, but they supported my dreams and I will always appreciate their belief in me. In the shelter, I learned how fortunate I was and how even small contributions can make a big difference. Today, I really value and enjoy educating my students to facilitate groups for abused children in our community. Hopefully, we make a small difference by working to end the devastating intergenerational cycle of domestic violence.
One motto applied to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps is that, as a result of our experience, we are “changed for life.” I think that applies to our time at Loyola University as well. The education you have been given, the support from your family, the friends you have made, have changed your lives and will remain with you forever as you journey onward to experience life’s greatest joys. A final point relates to these joys, I hope that you will be open to the outrageous beauty that surrounds us. Despite the immense challenges that we face today – in our homes, cities, country, and internationally - we live in a beautiful diverse awesome world.
To conclude, go forth, Class of 2015, and have the courage to dream big, the strength to work hard, the certainty of support and love from your family and closest friends, the desire to use your gifts to make a difference in our world, and awe in the beauty and joy that hopefully will surround you in the years to come! Thank you.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Karen M. O’Brien
May 5, 2015
Thank you – it is a great honor to speak to you, Class of 2015, parents, family, friends, and esteemed faculty. Today, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago, I would like to reflect on what has brought us to this moment, express gratitude for what we have been given, and encourage the graduates to use their gifts to make a difference in our world.
I want to begin by honoring my grandparents who immigrated to the United States from Ireland in the early 1900s. From a land devastated by poverty, they embarked on a courageous and difficult journey to give their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren better opportunities. My grandparents never would have imagined that their granddaughter, a first generation college student, would receive the honor of speaking to you today. Thus, my first message for the graduates is to dream big, take risks and work hard. Like my grandparents, you cannot imagine what the future holds for you. On my graduation day, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. In time, I made my way to a meaningful career, met a very special man, and welcomed two wonderful children who came to us from Korea. So take risks graduates, work hard, and be open to the wondrous surprises that come when you journey beyond what is known.
Second, let us remember and be grateful for the people on our journey. For many of you, your parents sacrificed to pay tuition, your siblings, aunts and uncles encouraged you, and your sweethearts helped make college fun. I am most grateful for my parents, who did not have the opportunity to go to college but stressed the importance and value of education and ensured that all five of their children attended excellent colleges – with Loyola being the best and that other Catholic college in South Bend a close second!
Many of us also are very grateful for the friendships we made at Loyola University. As I reflect on my undergraduate and graduate friendships, I remember lots of laughter, crazy college adventures, and long runs with a treasured friend along a changing lake. In the years to come, hold on to your closest “heart” friends. These friends walk beside us, sharing the joys and sorrows that life brings. We all will experience profound losses and deferred dreams, and often it is our friends who sustain and comfort us in our most difficult moments. Even the importance of those friends who you will say goodbye to today will not be diminished as they played a significant role in your life.
As a professor, I would be remiss if I did not mention the importance of gratitude toward your faculty. During your tenure at Loyola University, there likely were memorable professors who challenged you and changed the direction of your path. I started my undergraduate career at Loyola as a chemistry major, a mistake that became very clear after my lab equipment caught on fire and my chemistry professor talked with me about the importance of “finding the shoes that best fit.” I am grateful for that professor, and for having the good sense to find a field that really matched my strengths and passion. Graduates, it is so important to find a path that fits you well. There are some who would like to chart your course or advise you to do it their way or even the “Right Way” – meaning the same old way that it always has been done. For you to thrive and for us to best educate and counsel others, we need for you to take flight in ways that even we have never dreamed. Think about your strengths, think about what you love to do, and then pursue your path to find the shoes that best fit you.
As this special time of your life comes to a close, I hope that you will strive to use the gifts that you have been given to make a difference in our world. At Loyola University, grounded in our faith traditions, we receive the foundation for helping those less fortunate, challenging unjust practices, and solving difficult problems. You, as graduates of the School of Education, are especially poised to improve the lives of others. After my college graduation, I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, an organization similar to the Peace Corps but in the United States. I was placed in an inner city shelter in Kansas City to work with abused women and their children. I know my parents had hoped for a paying job after graduation, rather than volunteer work, but they supported my dreams and I will always appreciate their belief in me. In the shelter, I learned how fortunate I was and how even small contributions can make a big difference. Today, I really value and enjoy educating my students to facilitate groups for abused children in our community. Hopefully, we make a small difference by working to end the devastating intergenerational cycle of domestic violence.
One motto applied to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps is that, as a result of our experience, we are “changed for life.” I think that applies to our time at Loyola University as well. The education you have been given, the support from your family, the friends you have made, have changed your lives and will remain with you forever as you journey onward to experience life’s greatest joys. A final point relates to these joys, I hope that you will be open to the outrageous beauty that surrounds us. Despite the immense challenges that we face today – in our homes, cities, country, and internationally - we live in a beautiful diverse awesome world.
To conclude, go forth, Class of 2015, and have the courage to dream big, the strength to work hard, the certainty of support and love from your family and closest friends, the desire to use your gifts to make a difference in our world, and awe in the beauty and joy that hopefully will surround you in the years to come! Thank you.