2021 December Recognition Ceremony 12/18/2021 @ 11am

one minute mhm good morning i am kathy mcnamara associate vice provost for academic support and student engagement welcome to clarkson university this is our annual december recognition ceremony for graduates completing their degree requirements at the end of the fall semester we will begin in a few minutes please take your seats i'm is about that my family so do you want me to move hello clarkson university this is senator chuck schumer and it's my honor to address the faculty and staff the families and friends of the graduates but most of all you the graduates of clarkson congratulations now everyone says your senior year in college will be the most memorable and for many of you it probably has been but certainly not in the way you expected the challenges of this moment are truly unique but so has been our collective response the fact that we're celebrating this graduation and not letting covet stand in the way even if we're celebrating differently just goes to show you that new yorkers won't let anything stop us from honoring what's so important in life and nothing nothing can take away from the fact that you've earned a degree from such a fine institution of higher learning so graduates my message to you is simple right now it may feel like the future is uncertain many of you may not be sure of what you're going to do next but what has been true throughout history is just as true today that even in times of difficulty there are always new opportunities new ways of thinking of doing things a better way our nation is overcoming this pandemic and we will need your help and your courage to rebuild our country even stronger than it was before we must make our society better and we know we will because you are our future leaders and we have faith in you so to the graduates i say once again congratulations good luck and godspeed [Applause] okay thank you for joining us to celebrate this important milestone for our degree candidates who are completing their studies at clarkson this week there are a few housekeeping items to bring to your attention to make this an enjoyable ceremony for all while we graduate the world's leaders in technology we ask that you please unplug during the ceremony and turn off your cell phones and mobile devices we will have a professional photographer taking photos of the candidates as they are handed their certificates so please stay seated while your honoree is being recognized restrooms are located by going through the exits behind you down the stairs additional restrooms are through the alumni gym building exits are located behind you to your left and behind the stage masks need to be worn while in the building regardless of vaccination status before we begin i would like to share with you on behalf of the faculty the staff and the students at clarkson university our land acknowledgement as clarkson university community we are grateful for the opportunity to meet here and we thank all the generations of people who have taken care of this land before us we acknowledge we are meeting on the traditional territory the agus nay mohawk and their ancestors these lands and waterways connect to the vast traditional areas of the haudenosaunee algonquin hiron wendot and abenaki peoples these traditional territories were never wholly surrendered and were only claimed by competing french and british crowns in later new york state as we move towards healing past injustices we must acknowledge the wrongs that have been done and work towards a unified path of coexistence and prosperity we recognize and deeply appreciate their historic connection to this land we also recognize the contributions of the agusas mohawk hodi noshoni and other indigenous peoples have made both in shaping and strengthening this community in particular and other territories within the country as a whole at clarkson university everyone is an educator today we are honored to celebrate a milestone in our time together students you have spent countless hours with faculty and staff in and out of the classroom you've forged lifelong relationships that were built on the tireless pursuit of this moment from your snapchats your tweets your instas to texts and phone calls at all hours of the day and night we know how deep and impactful your relationship to clarkson's faculty and staff are know that as you leave us you bring with you all of the skills all of the knowledge that is needed to transform this world believe me when i say that we will always be here for you we want to hear from you often and we stand ready to help if you need us the degree that you receive today is the result of a mutual pursuit towards educational goals diligence to responsibilities dedication to the clerks and values and earned respect the foundation of relationships formed during your time at clarkson sets the stage for lifelong learning and an abiding connection to the clarkson as to clarkson university as an alum will our students our faculty and our staff please rise to accept a round of applause for celebrating this milestone thank you please be seated it is now my pleasure and indeed my honor to introduce our student speaker justin juan a student in chemistry who will make remarks on behalf of your fellow students [Applause] i'm glad that they're not tripped this time i want to start off with an ironic story i have last may my mother decided to drive from new york city all the way up to potsdam while i was doing summer work at clarkson and we went to walmart as i finished my shopping i found her buying a 60-inch mirror very bougie-looking mirror and i asked her why do you need another mirror you have five at home she says something about it's for the living room and i get it she likes taking pictures of herself presentation is a mighty worthy thing as a hispanic especially however i usually don't like having a mirrors so i told her no the irony here is once i came back to clarkson for my last semester i somehow got a 60-inch mirror however 50 pounds that i took from woodstock to townhouse now if there's one thing i want everyone here to know about me is i think a lot there's not a day that goes by without me asking myself some questions about people and about myself internally my mother always told me i should look in the mirror after i dress up to see if i look handsome because you never know if you meet a woman who finds you attractive to be honest though i think she's just projecting herself because that's what my father did and somehow ended up with her creating me i personally thought it was a little condescending however i sort of get why i reflect a lot through the mirror but not physically but mentally i always ask myself what is one thing wrong with me that i could attempt to change first was my hygiene then it was the way i act around people then the way i dress which i know my mother is very happy about i started to solve so many personal problems that i began i began to create new problems just to fix those imagine me walking my way down to hell just to come back up simply to say i saw how it looks like however there's this small itch i've never seen to scratch and before i tell you that i really want you to understand what this itch feels like now i did not know they were going to say no phones allowed so you can either use the black screen of your phone or be rebels and just take a selfie real quick i want you to look at yourself either in the mirror or in your phone right now and ask yourself or just simply look at yourself really attentively not to post on social media not to you know show off how cute your your looks are right now but really look deep into your eyes things i want you to ask yourself is what do you see i mean what do you really truly see could you see yourself when you were a kid is that kid standing right next to you metaphorically speaking uh are you proud of that kid or is that kid proud of you being here or being here supporting those here today did you allow that child of yourself to do things that you wanted to do but couldn't due to financial or literal restrictions like driving or moving to a state or country most importantly do you think that child loves you do you love that child i asked myself those questions these last two months and i will stand here with pride that i cried so much when i asked myself these questions that child as my mother told me was always quiet shy isolated never wanting to do anything new i never understood why i was like this until i realized i was simply scared my dad no longer existed in my eyes after his horrible motorcycle injury back when i was a toddler i lied to myself saying that never traumatized me because i was so young about two to four years old but the truth is i lost my superhero he's still alive but certainly not the same man my young mind remembers him he can't talk he can't walk and it seems that i copied him when i was a child i was afraid to try anything new and fear i too would make the same mistake he has done the itch i had for myself for a decade was that child i nicknamed them simply youngjae he constantly pulled my skin to catch my attention he is the anxiety i felt when i decided to start accepting leadership roles he was the clingy hand whenever i was in a romantic relationship he was a depression whenever i felt neglected however just like a good father would do whenever their child keeps repeating their name i went down on one knee and looked youngjae right in his eyes and i asked him what's wrong with my child all he wanted was a hug to be comforted in this unpredictable world when i embraced that child my heart finally felt warm again i can smile without reason it's like breathing through both your nostrils i found myself at the end of the victory lab one thing the area coordinator koda winters once asked me was what would you call this chapter in your life right now and very immediately i responded a phoenix that swam and i thought that because at once i was just a bird in my head however i felt burnt i felt i was nothing but just like a phoenix i've revived myself and then i took the scariest challenge of all swim the question is do i end up staying in that waters or do i come out still as a phoenix and i kind of look at these graduates and i think this must be the same situation they went through at clarkson they definitely felt burnt out at some point in their life here and i know you guys now have to swim once you get out of this place and just like my story i really hope you guys swim out like the phoenix bright as you can i am thankful for meeting the people i've met at clarkson from both students and faculty clarkson is surely not a place you come to simply spend 32 months away from family kick back and have some fun this snow globe of a university is filled with golden knights who earned that title as cliche as it might be for any person who wear these caps and gowns on this campus they definitely have some stories to share or at least i hope a professor of mine named galena mellman once told me justin remembering is for babies understanding why it happens will make you never need to remember she may have been saying this simply to understand the mechanic the mechanisms of organic synthesis but i believe this can be applied in life even as my memories have begun to be limited i tend to remember a lot of crucial things about what people say or do once i begin to understand why people say or do certain things i have seemed to find the world a little bit more enjoyable the complexity of life surely keeps me wanting to understand more just like the students who researched here figuring out concepts that seemed all too impossible congratulate all of them especially those who have been supporting the ones you are here to see today you don't understand how that little ounce of love and support allowed most of these students to continue to breathe the next day my mom always told me to have a voice to speak pridefully well i hope standing in front of all these people prove that congratulations to the people here today for enduring the trials and tribulations clarkson has to offer here walk out of this building with a glow as bright as the yellow on our logo with an attitude as grounded as the green in our logo and the heart as poised as how our golden knights look on the hockey ring the practice is over let reality have a taste of your potential now please welcome brian grant the vice president of enrollment and student advancements [Applause] it is never easy to follow our students [Music] more so today please give juan a round of applause i am so fortunate to have the role that i do here at clarkson because not only do i get to know the students from the admissions side but also to be a part of the student affairs one of the things that amazes me how fast our time goes by for some of you our first interaction might have been a hole croft house or at a college fair or a reception and i will tell you the favorite part of my job is the admissions process because i am one of the few people on this campus that got to know you even before you step foot on our campus to see the high quality academics but maybe more importantly the other aspects the other attributes that you had in high school and what's most exciting for me at that time is to know that you were going to bring that to clarkson and you are going to elevate us as an institution and i can tell you you have exceeded our expectations and i thank you for that but also on the student affairs side that we partner together that you came to us in many cases you challenged us for more and keep doing that because what it has done is made us stronger better and more prepared for the future and i will tell you as a clarkson grad it's the most prideful thing that i have but as you leave here today there is a responsibility that i hope that you take with you the every chance you have you get to raise that green and gold banner high and promote this institution find those new students who are going to take your seats find those opportunities to always talk about clarkson about your experiences about that personal connection that you had with a faculty member or an administrator or anybody keep pushing and that will help us as an institution and also make sure that the companies are you're going to that they come back and recruit on our at our career fairs and for the future students so i want to offer my congratulations i know you've endured more than anybody else the past two years have not been easy on any of us but you have shown your true golden night spirit you've risen to the challenge and you've succeeded so on behalf of the admission and student affairs staff i congratulate you and your family members for a job well done we look forward to having you back on campus at every opportunity congratulations so please now welcome matt draper the vice president for development and alumni relations [Applause] congratulations to the class of 2021. as molnier said the greater the obstacle the more glory and overcoming it what an obstacle it has been but here we stand celebrating you and all that you did to persevere and overcome today i welcome you to the clarkson alumni community a group of over forty four thousand five hundred people where one in five sits at the highest executive level this prestigious community includes ceos scientists entrepreneurs state senators members of congress and professional athletes we welcome you with open arms and are anxious to celebrate your future success but as you embark on your new journey i ask you to do three things engage invest and ensure first engage stay in touch we want to know where your journey brings you and celebrate life's milestones with you the clarkson alumni community though large in number we remain a family and we take care of each other read the newsletters come back to campus attend events and stay connected your relationship with clarkson does not end today but rather transitions and we will always be there to help to listen and support you second invest by a show of hands how many of you receive financial aid to attend clarkson how many of you interacted with an alumni during your time at clarkson the strength of the clarkson alumni community rests on the network but as with any network it requires continued investment to remain strong those that came before you pave the road for your journey and i ask that you do the same for future generations of golden knights invest your time share your talent and experience and open doors for those students following in your path lastly ensure with entry into the clarkson alumni community comes great responsibility you represent clarkson our mission our values and the best of who we are carry that responsibility with pride and show the world what it means to be a golden knight congratulations it is now my honor to introduce our guest speaker founder and ceo of the potsdam-based spice csm mike ryan mike earned a bachelor degree in industrial distribution from clarkson in 1985. he and his wife mary beth also an alum from the class of 85 worked as alumni admissions counselors for many years after graduation and i've had the pleasure of working very closely with mike and can't wait to hear what he has to say to you mike thank you matt president collins distinguished members of the faculty and staff of this awesome university i am truly humbled and honored and i want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today frankly when tony asked me to speak a few weeks ago i immediately got emotional i have tremendous respect for tony and for all that he has done for clarkson the alumni the students the north country his vote of confidence in me means a lot and who knew that in recently minted phd with a thick accent from the land down under would teach me thermodynamics 38 years ago and look where we are today you've made a difference in my life you're a difference maker you've made a difference in a lot of lives so thank you tony i'm proud to call you a friend and whether you know it a model and a mentor we all need models and mentors in our life it's one of the ways to become successful is to see people see where you want to go and find someone that you can model after a commencement speaker this morning is one of the greatest honors of my lifetime one that i certainly never expected and i pray that i am worthy of parents family friends i want to congratulate you you have made a difference in the lives of these graduates having three kids of my own two of them having graduated from college and one from a master's program i know the sense of pride and the relief that you may feel but seriously great job my remarks this morning are a challenge to you as well difference makers that's what you are the class of what are you a class of many classes potentially you're more than graduates you are difference makers you've studied you've worked you've led projects you've won in the classroom on the ice and the field you've become friends and you've had experiences that make you able to create an incalculable impact in this world mary beth and i as alumni want to congratulate you and remind you that you are joining as matt mentioned earlier a long line of clarkson university difference makers who care about you and your success we're glad to have you become one of us as i said i became emotional when tony asked me to speak i do that sometimes sometimes at movies this university means a lot to me and to mary beth we grew and spent four wonderful years here and like you we commenced i prefer that word commencement over graduation because graduation to me means an end commencement means moving forward moving on to what's next taking what you've learned here taking the experiences that you've gained and taking them forward so while graduation means to complete something that's great what is next commencement is a different mindset it means not just completion but moving forward so it's a time to apply and continue to grow to continue learning to become our best self each and every day this will allow us to make our greatest impact note that differences that we make can become can come in different shapes and sizes even with these masks on this morning you smiled at somebody your eyes touched them made a difference in that moment to that person and you never know how big a difference that one little smile can make because you don't know what's going on in that person's life at that moment and that acknowledgement what it can mean making a difference can come from solving a problem in your next endeavor from establishing and growing a company whether it be someplace around this globe or right here in potsdam you can make a difference in doing that creating new products teaching mentoring you can make a difference in someone's life so i encourage you to get up each day with the mindset that you're going to be a difference maker today paste it on your mirror we didn't coordinate that in fact i didn't very nice speech justin by the way very very nice commit to it and don't let anything stand in your way after the emotions went away the oh gosh and sheer terror of what the heck am i going to speak about kicked in after all i'm not a politician never as tony knows and i haven't built a billion dollar business yet you're never too old so probably like many commencement speakers i started feverishly writing what would my 58 year old self tell my 20-something self and i was all fired up about that list and then i picked up my phone and i started to scroll and i saw everything on that list in my feed so after meditating a while waking up in the middle of the night playing this in my head different versions of my remarks dictating several versions i realized that perhaps the most important and overarching theme of my life has been to try to make that difference no matter how big or small every day and i've learned that having a definiteness of purpose clear goals makes this easier so in closing if i could offer one piece of advice to when i was sitting in that chair my 21 year old self it would be to encourage him to take time today or tomorrow get this done the first iteration of it spend a half hour set goals in three categories a personal goal a professional goal and a financial goal to be achieved in three time frames ten years three years and one year first write the ten year goal make it big i mean just outrageous ridiculous something you almost don't think you can achieve have that little bit that i know i can achieve it one that when you hit it it's something that you're going to be proud of it's going to be life changing it makes a difference then write your three year goals in those three categories that put you on the trajectory to achieve your 10-year goal and then finally write the one-year goal that sets you on the path and every day review that goal you will be surprised at how quickly you achieve those goals and the difference that they make in doing that you'll be able to align with clarity how you can make the greatest impact indifference if you do this you'll be surprised again how quickly will you commit to writing your goals will you commit to being the difference maker with maximum impact thank you for this great honor and i congratulate all of you in your wonderful achievement today i look forward to hearing of the differences that you make and look forward to seeing you at alumni events and now i'm very proud to introduce tony collins the president of clarkson university [Applause] he's quick with his hands too well i feel like i'm stepping into a spellbound moment uh where we've heard some terrific speakers sharing their wisdom their life experiences and so maybe going to change it up a little bit i think what you've heard today out does what happens at most commencements so please join me in a round of collective applause for all you've heard so far today so let me add my welcome to the families and supporters of the soon-to-be graduates of today's graduation ceremony celebration a special welcome and congratulations to you the potential graduates and and all of your supporters you've often you've obviously heard a lot of good advice and i'm going to be brief i hope and i want to really reflect on some of the individuals that are graduating today now my remarks i could go through each and every one of you that is clarkson i think we do know most of you pretty personally so the examples i'm going to choose today please understand that they are simply representative so we have to start obviously i think with justin juan justin can you please stand for a moment so right here and now i want to tell you that i'm not sure i've heard a better commencement set of words passionate heartfelt insightful thoughtful so justin thank you and i'm going to ask people to applaud and this time not just for your great words but you and your group of ras and and the the the staff that worked with our students in the last two years you were the front line of clarkson's response to the covet 19 pandemic 24 7 with our students helping to lead them through a successful so far two years so please join me in in i think justin frankly deserves a standing ovation for his words and the role he's played on this campus thank you now get a little more lighthearted so most people i think i've i've warned them that they may be called upon but i didn't get to see ben ben mohler please stand where are you ben ben yes now what you don't know what you're applauding for yet but i'm worried about ben leaving i got some background information reports from various departments say ben is extraordinary his contributions to our data systems and reporting systems in institutional research have been invaluable ben is truly the hallmark of a scholar and carries with with with and carries that ethos with him throughout all that he does he has been central to broadcasting with espn plus and coordinating wckn and broadcasting d3 sports ben i hope we have your cell phone number because we may collapse when you graduate congratulations ben peter john king pj where are you yes now just listen to this pj is from jamaica then to potsdam to clarkson obviously and on to silicon valley with google what a journey [Laughter] [Applause] and a huge campus contributor thank you pj and good luck and let us know how google goes for you alissa yeager melissa where are you yes so now just think of what elicit well is an officer in phalanx majoring in business intelligence and data analytics with dual with a dual miners in project management and psychology now if that is not enough alyssa i actually believe her greatest contribution was to strengthen and keep going the equestrian club now out of nowhere came an equestrian club at clarkson five or six years ago now right who would think and yet that club has grown and prospered at clarkson we help people out to begin with but they take the ball and run with it in this course in this case they get on the horse and ride it and so we have a wonderfully successful equestrian club alyssa thank you for being the president of that club and continuing that journey for it thank you congratulations reid watson where are you yes a member of the tarz club you know by the banerjees what that's fantastic anyway reed is a mechanical engineering major and as a 3d modeling and 3d printing enthusiast reed do you know where i'm going with this no but you're a smart guy reed is also a car person and it had bought an old c4 corvette a few years ago right i know it's right a faculty member remarked that one day i see reed in our lab printing parts to fix his speedometer because that is exactly what engineers should do that moment captured the true essence of being a clarkson student using what you learned in class and research to solve real-world problems in this case your speedometer congratulations reed [Applause] leo morinega leo how'd they do with that last name okay leo is persistent how many times in three and a half years have you tracked me down leo a lot and why because leo bought a pop event from la to potsdam who in the audience not the students knows what a pop event is a pop-up event yeah leo do you want to tell them what it is so this is important from los angeles his hometown do you do these outdoors leo in stores but did we have a big enough did you spill outside my point is that he forgot to bring the la weather to potsdam that's it congratulations leo and finally on my list molly stewart molly where are you i had to check with molly's some facts but i've got them so molly returned to graduate school with covert most of you probably know that in all of our athletics d1d3 you've been actually given an extra year to participate because it was so interrupted by covert much to her i'm adding this bit just an ad-lib molly but much to her parents chagrin she decided to come back for a fifth year as a mechanical engineer and do a graduate degree despite the fact that you had a job she wanted to come back and play for clarkson and it was an impressive fifth year on the basketball court because she scored and exceeded her thousandth point [Applause] so that's my story about half a dozen of our graduates there is a story here behind each and every one of you we understand that i don't have time today to go through them but that's the kind of personal capacity that clarkson has to reach out take hold of you and then kind of cut the bow lines and and send send your ship off into the distance as matters said brian's talked about please stay in touch we want to know your successes and your failures we're always here to help you so with that congratulations i said it would be reasonably short and i hope focused on you because you are the future not us not the institution it's what you do in the world and it's going to be great so congratulations one more round of applause for them and now down to the real business of the day it's time to get to that principal business and please welcome to the microphone associate dean of graduate programs and research associate professor professor dennis wu and he will take over from here and we are going to get the job done thanks we now will recognize the students who have taken all of the required coursework towards the degree at clarkson and who are ready to move on to the next phase of their professional and personal pursuits students you are presented today as a candidate for your respective degrees to be confirmed by a vote of the faculty and board of trustees after all grades are finalized and which will grant you all of the rights privileges responsibilities and honors which pertain thereto for clarkson degree following traditions the doctored candidates will be presented first followed by the master's degree candidates and then bachelor's degree candidates students please ascend to the stage to be recognized when your name is called family and friends we ask you please hold your applause until all of the candidates for each degree cohort have been recognized beginning with recognition of the candidates for clarkson's highest academic degrees doctoral candidates doctor candidates please rise and an event assistant will escort you to the stage area hussein is receiving a phd in chemical engineering with his dissertation titled a study on membrane filtration of single-stranded dna under the directions of professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering rules belters [Applause] is receiving a phd in computer science with her dissertation titled towards fire and transparent decision making and machine learning systems under the direction of associate professor of mathematics sumana mondo [Applause] austin william genzi austin is receiving a phd in physics with his dissertation titled spatial phase modulation for improved underwater lida under the direction of dean of the wallace h culter school of engineering and the tony collins professor of innovative engineering culture william jemison [Applause] shidong is receiving a phd in chemical engineering with his dissertation titled efficacy of gas and liquid electrical discharge plasmas in microbial inactivation fundamental mechanisms and process optimization under the direction of professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering selma medidovic [Applause] edward vernich edward is receiving a phd in computer science with his dissertation titled improving operational machine learning in the pulmonary radiation radiology domain towards clinical adoption under the direction of assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering faraz hussain congratulations to all of the doctor degree candidates [Applause] our next recognition is for the master degree candidates will the master degree candidates please stand here are candidates for the master of science degrees in bioscience and biotech business of energy computer science data analytics electrical engineering engineering and management environmental policy and governance mechanical engineering occupational therapy and masters in business administration aaron ashton who's seen as far hussein brenda fv ahem benjamin adams happily benjamin ryan moeller calling michael rath megan marie burns samantha ashley martin puja rohan laurie daldy molly elizabeth stewart madison eve burrows patricia norton nico barbaro heather bianco i'm lame musaco kelsey elizabeth lagarde veronica and gominiak catherine evelyn elizabeth's handy eric victor pagano maria's surgery jennifer lane orlando christine chambers tracy mensah quadi niamo cooper grinnell kevin moon as stephanie quits cardinals congratulations to all of the master's degrees candidates [Applause] i now turn it back over to cassie mcnamara with the reading of our bachelor's degree candidates all right okay our final recognition is for the degree cohort for the bachelor of science and bachelor of professional studies will our first row of bachelor degrees please rise and our event assistance will lead you towards the stage area uh after all names have been called and certificates have been presented and the last student has left the stage we will congratulate them all right justin juan peter john king rowan true leo morinaga joseph joelle mendoza ali tessier emma maureen forrester bay battled nicholas durants peyton douglas michael sane kara smelts elizabeth rose laughlin [Music] caitlin marie vala joseph gary brown nicholas john hayko evelyn dyke maurice paplowski alyssa jagger megan converse andrew hilton madalina lodico alexander stein kelsey fox i'm sorry go ahead are you kelsey i'm just reading them in order okay two batches got a little mixed so we're gonna we're gonna do this elizabeth roberts all right derek fouts isaac cho christopher and drizzy julia coughlin all right ellen camilla catola she already went okay cassandra cassandra okay ready cassandra lee romeo gregory bulrus holly rolfe christopher lloyd alexander stein kyle bilby lindsey clark reed watson aidan cahill akhil alajie bandar al-ghandia raniere clinton jackson taylor leanne fuchs sarah mcallister yashveen ray [Music] cecilia tran dimitri anthony rashad cummings connor bookout branson kinnear [Music] lyndon millington nathan hayes andrew michael stevens brian schmidt sarah lynn rogerson cameron weinfert gregory t lyon zachary layton evan phillip gray neat grainy kyle syde jacob wesley laraway robert guilfoyle benjamin matthew root brian benitez brandon bear minwa tan robert bendel [Music] [Applause] gavin sweeter jean mary beveridge faith hutton patrick mead kelly wittmeyer anthony siebolt caitlin lynn howley simon holt jacqueline budka william dunklin tyler patrick skagner miglio john patrick mccain [Music] ramon giovanni rivera mckinley kuhn okay graduates please rise and congratulations to all of our candidates honored at today's december graduation ceremony please be seated thank you faculty staff friends and family for your rousing applause for these degree candidates and their accomplishments now i welcome william mckinnon assistant professor of operations and information systems from the ray school of business and vice chair of the faculty senate to offer final sentiments to the class on behalf of the faculty i have to make sure i grab the right paper because my other pocket has my family's lunch order so maybe i'll see some of you at arby's after this on behalf of the faculty senate and the entire clarkson university faculty it is my honor to congratulate you the december 2021 graduates of clarkson university in just a few minutes we're going to turn you loose on the world and like all good clerks and students no doubt you have a plan for your life and that's good it's good to have a plan but as the prussian army commander helmut von multkey once wrote no battle plan survives contact with the enemy put in less martial terms things don't always go according to plan and that can be good too it's my privilege to lead student groups on study abroad trips to southeast asia we often go out for group dinners and there's sometimes a bit of a language barrier and i always tell my students order what you want eat what they bring you in other words just go with it see what happens you might like it there are a whole host of experiences and adventures waiting for you that you can't possibly foresee not all of them will be good but many of them can be if your eyes and your mind are open to them the christian philosopher c.s lewis once said we are often so busy looking for the good we expect that we miss the good that comes and as for the things that aren't so good you can follow the advice of that other great philosopher clint eastwood improvise adapt and overcome if we at clarkson have been successful at all you're ready to do just that congratulations and well done a recognition ceremony is now concluded congratulations to all of you thank you for coming for safety purposes please take a few pho photos and then exit the building have a great holiday season [Applause] you

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Length: 74min 32sec (4472 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2021