- [Announcer] Please join me
in welcoming Rohan Ahammed to the stage.
(audience cheering and applauding)
- Hey everyone, is everyone excited?
(audience cheering)
Good morning, parents, families, friends,
President Starr, trustees, faculty and staff,
and most importantly, my dear class of 2023.
It is a great honor to be here with you today
on this special occasion, the day of our commencement.
A round of applause?
(audience applauds)
During our time at Pomona, we have made many connections.
Connections with our sponsor group.
Shout out to Matu Fried.
(audience cheering)
Connections with our sports teams,
connections with our clubs, affinity groups,
connections with our beloved professors.
As I reflect on our four years at Pomona,
the most valuable connections
are the ones I've made
with people very different from me,
the ones I've made by chance,
and the ones I've made in the most difficult of times.
Let me take you all
on a journey that started four years ago, August 25th, 2019.
This was the day
that we were all together for the first time.
We helped each other move our things.
We made connections on the line for packages in mud.
The Greek theater when we met our OA leaders,
and later that night, as we met our sponsor group
for the first time.
We raced against each other.
As we went through the gates,
we shared glances with the person next to us
when we heard President Starr
speaking Klingon for the first time,
(audience laughing)
and we asked our neighbors
if they knew how to get to the laundry room.
March 11th, 2020.
This was the day
we received an email titled Urgent Update:
Pomona Shifting to Online Courses As Coronavirus Precaution.
we went to, or skipped our afternoon classes
distraught, confused, and angry.
We became closer as reality slowly hit us.
We wouldn't see any of our new friends for months.
Those months became years.
We filled our hallways and rooms with boxes.
Some things we had to leave behind
and we left campus with reluctant goodbyes.
The next couple months were difficult.
It can be hard to make connections in person
and even harder to do it over Zoom,
yet we had to make it work.
We tried to make connections with people
in awkward breakout rooms that lasted too long.
(audience laughing)
Over virtual mentor sessions and over social media
we learned to really value the in-person connections
we took for granted,
and sent millions of texts
once we finally found out that we were coming back.
August, 2021, we were so excited to return to campus
and see people we haven't seen in months.
It felt like we could just pick up where we had left off.
Everyone was excited to finally be able
to talk to other people in person.
We quickly realized that the friends
we'd meet on Zoom were deceivingly short or tall online.
(audience laughing)
We took the time to hold conversations
with people we haven't seen in one and a half years
and wave at professors who had never seen us
in person and probably didn't know who we were.
December 4th, 2021.
This was the first time I was able
to spend Pomona's money to buy ice sculptures.
(audience laughing and cheering)
Yes, ice sculptures.
They were for Yule Ball.
Towards the end of the first semester
we were back on campus.
It was an important event because it signaled
that we as a class cared
about the traditions that brought us together
and made our first year at Pomona special,
and were willing to continue them for years to come.
This almost didn't happen, but I'm so glad it did.
September 23rd, 2022.
This is the date of our first senior event, senior brunch.
the first major event that we had
as a class in our final year at Pomona.
We had many events this year.
Hopefully you got to meet someone new at each one,
whether it was a trivia night, a sip and study,
or at some other event.
Senior committee, can we give a round of applause
to senior committee for all the work that they've done?
(audience applauding)
And I tried to make our best to make sure
we were able to make some good memories this year,
big and small.
April 8th, 2023, Vegas.
(audience cheering)
For those of you who came
we had an incredible day and night.
It was one of the best times we've had
together this semester.
We made connections on the bus,
in the cabana, in the party limo,
and on the sidewalk while we waited for the bus.
(audience and Rohan giggling)
I might never go to Vegas again,
but we'll always remember the incredible
time we shared together.
May 14th, 2023.
This is our last shared experience as college students.
Probably the most and also least important:
commencement, graduation.
This is our final shared experience
before we have our degrees conferred and become alumni.
But it's not our last time to make connections.
Keep an open mind.
Go out into the world and make new connections
with people different from you.
Even if you and I personally have not made a connection yet.
The most important connection we have right now
is our shared experience here.
We'll always carry this experience
this very unique Pomona experience
with us in the world.
And as we do amazing things,
treasure the connections you made as you make new ones.
I want to finish off with Happy Mother's Day.
(audience cheering)
Again, thank you to my mother and thank you to my family.
Thank you to everyone
who's made my time here at Pomona special,
including all the faculty, all the students, all the staff,
and thank you to everyone here.
I'm glad to have shared this collective experience with you
and hope to maintain our connections as you leave today.
Thank you.
(audience cheering and applauding)