I’d like to
welcome you all tonight, to a celebration of our graduation from Kaplan
University and to a celebration of The Spirit of Change. Though our degrees may
differ in the major we have chosen, and the steps we have all taken to get to
this moment in time are most definitely unique, our voyage throughout this
process has now intertwined our lives and bound us together for a lifetime. We
have been changed forever, our lives touching each other for one brief, yet
momentous place in time. We have encouraged, reassured, and definitely inspired
each other to continue, when at times the whole process felt overwhelming and
excruciating.
I have got
to give credit to all of the staff at Kaplan, for without this team, none of us
would be here today. From Nick, my recruiter and cheerleader in the beginning,
telling me I COULD do this, to the financial aid office, the business office,
and all of the staff involved in keeping Kaplan running and on its toes, I thank
you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity.
I would also
like to thank the entire medical assisting department and all of my classmates
who have stood beside me, who have laughed with me, and even cried with me, as
we spent hours, studying with each other, taking those dreaded pharmacology and
A & P exams, and using each other as human pin cushions to successfully get
all of the necessary blood draws in to be able to advance to our externship
sites.
I am
excited to be able to say that throughout this process, I have also gotten
hired on at my externship site as a Medical Assistant with Midtown Medical
Group!
And most importantly, I would like to thank my
ever so patient and supportive mom, husband, and kids, who helped me study for
many exams and encouraged me to keep going even when I felt overwhelmed. You
are my inspiration for staying strong when things get tough. Thank you for
allowing me to spread my wings and fly, while you were missing me and longing
for me to be home with you. You had faith in me, when I didn’t believe in
myself and I can’t believe I am standing here today, finished and graduating
with honors!
When
I was asked to write a speech for our graduation, I was not only honored, but
terrified of getting up here and speaking to all of you here tonight. I thought
about my own life and the reasons why I should give this speech, and I knew
that if I could reach just one person who is struggling in their life, one
person who is trying to succeed and feels that they can’t go on, then I have
done my job, and I have succeeded.
The symbol
for my life has always been “the butterfly”. So in pondering this topic for my
speech, I realized how appropriate it would be to equate this to our
graduation. The butterfly stands for a period of rebirth, transformation and
awakening. If you think about the butterfly, it begins as an egg and the larva,
minute and almost impossible to see with the human eye. Weren’t we a little
like this when we started our classes here at Kaplan? We were all a little
scared, and we felt small and insignificant, and we wondered if we would ever
make it into the person we hoped to become at the end of all of this.
The next
stage of the butterfly is to become a caterpillar. How many of us couldn’t see
this day at the beginning of our journey? We felt like the lonely caterpillar,
slowly learning to walk, taking baby steps and hoping just to make it through
another exam, another challenge, and not get stepped on in the process! So we
trudged along, making a little further day by day, sometimes feeling like the
walk was just too long, but somehow finding the strength inside of us, to put
one foot in front of the other, getting through another day, and then another,
and then another…
The next
step in the process is the cocoon stage. Haven’t we all been in this stage in
our lives? I’m sure some of us would rather stay in this very stage, warm,
comfortable, and safe from the outside world. This is the stage I hit around
our next to last term. I felt like I was accomplishing the skills necessary to
become a competent Medical Assistant, but I was scared to take the next step in
the process; scared to begin my externship and wander out into that big dark
world, where I would have to start a whole new career and prove to myself and
the world all over again that I could do this, I could succeed! But something
inside of me told me to keep going that it would all work out in the end.
I kept
taking those baby steps; I kept warm in my cocoon yet kept sticking my
“feelers” out to test the waters outside; and before I knew it, I felt myself
wanting to push just a little harder and I realized when I looked back that we
were just around the corner from graduation and we were almost there! How had I
managed to work full-time, take care of 5 kids at home, and still be a
successful student? Where are all those reservations and fears now? They were
gone! I had done it! I had reached the end of my goal and here I was, ready to
graduate with honors! I felt free, like a butterfly ready to spread her wings
and fly to the next stage of my life, my next journey.
I believe
the butterfly signifies change in all of us. And from time to time, all of us
must enter a period of intense change in our lives. Sometimes, this change is
unwanted, unsettling, and the most difficult thing we have ever gone through.
But the butterfly reminds us that it is a natural part of change, and that
change although sometimes frightening, is only temporary. Sometimes in the
depths of our deepest, darkest hours, is where we learn to grow new wings, to
reach for things we thought were never possible. Each time we grow those new
wings and stretch them to new heights, we push ourselves, just a little more,
breaking down those walls that have confined us for so long, breaking down
those words of the people who told us that we could not do this and that we
wouldn’t succeed. Through our struggles, we have been reborn into this world,
as a new, transformed and beautiful creature! Change is not merely an external
force, it is also a vast potential for new ways of being that dwells within us
all.
Tonight, as we part, I challenge
each and every one of you, to become all that you aspire to be, in your own
time. Never forget the memories we’ve made together not the ways in which we
have changed each other’s lives. Be determined to not let tragedies nor
obstacles define you. Always, welcome the spirit of change, as you never know
where it may lead you and in which ways it will help you grow. Aspire to
someday finish this process of metamorphosis so that you can become the
butterfly, who is not afraid to spread its wings and fly to wherever the next
path leads! I am a living example of what perseverance, hard work, and patience
is all about on this journey through a college degree. In the end, it has all
been worth it and I believe that you all have it within you, if you just open
your minds and welcome the Spirit of Change! Embrace it, live it, and let it
become your next journey in this life! Goodnight everyone!
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