Good evening, distinguished guests, family, and friends, and to my classmates who have entrusted me with the honor of representing them at this evening’s ceremony. All protocols duly observed.
Before I came to Brandeis, I was working at an organization in Ghana called Future of Africa. There, I met children living on the streets of Accra whose lives were defined by deprivation, yet whose dreams were as vivid as my own. I listened as they recounted how older children stole their daily earnings by cutting their pockets at night, or how they had run away from home after realizing there was not enough food to feed a family of eight. Their stories were not just data points to me, but visceral reflections of the systemic injustice and inequality my community had grown accustomed to overlooking.
One of the children I closely interacted with was Bismark. Like me, he loved football and working with numbers. Unlike me, his life was left to the fate of the streets, while I had the privilege of moving from institution to institution to chase my dreams. I saw myself in him because we shared the same passions, curiosity, and potential, yet were separated only by circumstance. Advocating for him to join our first cohort of children integrated into our community center was an early lesson in the power of targeted intervention and sustained support. Today, he is completing his senior year of high school.
There are many stories like Bismark’s, stories of people born into deeply challenging circumstances who went on to transform their lives and their communities simply because someone gave them a chance. But in the midst of his story, I think about the many others who will stand to lose, if you and I don’t fight to carry the baton for effecting positive change in our society.
Many of us look at the sheer level of dirt and corruption in this world and wonder whether change is truly possible. I saw a popular quote on social media that said, "Nobody is trying to fix the problems we have in this country. Everyone is trying to make enough money so the problems don't apply to them anymore." I've wrestled with this many, many times. Why don't I just find a money-making trade, live my life, and occasionally save enough to donate to a cause?
But every time I resign to such a conclusion, the thought that always springs up is that if I don't, who will? I've invested many years in growing in my faith, traveled so many miles to pursue an education that advances social change, taken class after class, written essay after essay, asked question after question, with the sole purpose of preparing myself for a life of impact. So if I don't resolve to take this step, then who will?
My dear Heller colleagues, we've come too far, overcome, invested, and experienced too much to allow any darkness to prevail. Our light must shine, our passion must burn, and our resolve must remain until the tides are turned, and the change we've long desired is realized.
As we step forward from Brandeis, may we remember that the Bismarks of tomorrow are all around us today. May we build the environments that allow them to grow. And may history remember us as a generation that did not hoard opportunity, but shared it.
Thank you.