Teachers, parents, guests and graduates, do not be afraid. I am well aware that on a day of such great excitement, what is required, above all, of any speaker is brevity. I will not disappoint you in this respect. When we arrived in State College, everything was new to us and we walked around looking at everything in awe. As we prepared to leave, we were given the chance to view State College from the top of the tallest building, looking down on it all with nostalgic familiarity, inspecting the tiny people who bring State College to life, trying to imagine the countless buses we huddled together to go forward, and the hours spent talking with friends. State College meant something different to each of us, the good, the basketball. The great thing about State College is that everyone is so excited to be here that the energy is palpable. There is a vitality, a newness and a sense of possibility that transports us as students, motivates you as teachers and staff, and makes an impression on those who watch us - and indeed we know that there are many people watching us, looking for the good , the ugly, basketball. We are a community diverse in thought and background – the kind of terrain that is never easy to tread. Take it from my experience, as I have spent my entire life learning to walk such terrains – across countries, communities and schools divided, diverse and marked by difference – so I know how challenging, uncomfortable and sometimes exhausting it is. process it may be, but I also know that it is extraordinarily rewarding and powerful, but above all necessary. I know that graduation speeches are notorious for trying to impart big messages to a sea of ​​overwhelmed and overheated people,... ..middle of paper......moment since we were born. When we left for college, they knew we were still kids at heart. Now they look at the young men and women we have become and find themselves as speechless as we are. For lack of words, turn around and blow a kiss to your parents, say goodbye; it is Mother's Day after all, and they know the gratitude and love that these simple gestures mean today. Our families supported us as we learned to walk, as we learned to become adults, and amidst the uncertainties of moving forward, once again they become our ground and the arms that hold us steady. The best friends we have made have also become our family and will be with us through this uncertainty and others. For now, savor the goodbyes and hello to the new beginnings and remember that four years ago we were doing the exact same thing: and it all worked out for the best.