Inspirational Graduation Speech
Raise a glass to freedom. Raise a glass to all of us. Telling the story of today.
In my junior year of college, listening to the Hamilton soundtrack became my coping mechanism that would get me through the day. In case you don't know of the musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, it tells the story of an orphan and immigrant who became one of the Founding Fathers of America.
After listening to the album, I dove into the fandom, memorized all of the songs while walking to class, waiting for the bus, and before I went to sleep. I came here on a scholarship, a long way from my home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This opportunity to be here at the prestigious University of Wisconsin-Madison did not come easy or cost little for any of us.
My hopeful freshman self had started out college with big dreams. I wanted to make the most out of my time here because just like Hamilton, there's a million things I haven't done. In the beginning, the unknown was exciting.
Remember those days? I could justify struggling in calculus or chemistry because I was only a freshman, and I thought that by the time I'm a senior, I'll be a pro at everything. But as students, we juggle a lot on our plates. We juggle our studies, relationships with friends and family, and in most in my case, most of them were abroad, separated by a 14-hour time difference.
Most importantly, we work towards the promise of a great future for ourselves. While I was carrying the expectations of many, the heaviest ones were my own. When I didn't meet them, the person I disappointed the most was myself.
My second year in college, I suffered burnout to the point of losing motivation to finish this degree. I'd overwhelmed myself past my breaking point, kept chasing things that would look good on my resume, but I stopped feeling passion for anything I did or learned, and the truth was, all I wanted to do was sleep all the time.
I was so desperate to find a spark of enthusiasm, the same one we all overflowed with at the beginning, only to feel so helpless. But friends, look at where you are. Look at where you started.
You made it here to the last act. You did it day after day. You made the choice to rise up and give yourself another chance to start over every single morning.
And for me, I sang like my life was a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. And believe me, you did not throw away your shot because if you graduated having completed most of your coursework from the comfort of your own bed staring into your laptop, you made it. I see you. If you graduated having spent all hours of the day in the library or evenings in coffee shops, you made it.
I see you. Or if you are anywhere in between, you made it. I see you. There is everyday human experiences that give weight and substance to the certificate you're about to receive. Every sacrifice, every bit of energy you dragged out of you every morning, even if all you managed to do was scratch the bare minimum, you are here today.
You're graduating today, and I am proud of you. I'm immensely proud of you. Now, at the end, I look back and keep thanking God, teachers and mentors, mental health counselors at the University Health Services, my family, and friends who helped carry me through till today.
I thank Lin-Manuel for writing his songs, for helping me finish my Nina story, and for reimagining diverse representations on the Broadway stage. Madison, I'll miss your winters, your sunsets, your super frozen lakes, but I look forward to the future that the University of Wisconsin has prepared me for. I love this school with all my heart.
My fellow graduates, as we proudly leave this campus, remember the dark moments that shaped us from the ground up, the good times that we are grateful for, and the person we became because of it. We're gonna teach 'em how to say goodbye. Say goodbye. One last time.
Congratulations, Badgers.
