Good morning Class of 2021!
Woo!
Yes!
We need some energy!
Alright (laughs).
When we dreamed about our Brown journey and where it would take us, I don’t think anyone
imagined a moment quite like this.
College was hard enough before adding a global pandemic to the mix.
It was hard before we had to disperse to places around the world and say goodbye to our friends.
We tried our best to uphold a sense of normalcy through our schoolwork.
Many of us simultaneously juggled the additional responsibilities that come with being home...
or suddenly alone.
For me, focusing on my microbiology Zoom lectures was hard with a mysterious microbiological
agent just outside.
I feared for the health of my parents, as they worked bravely to protect the health
of others.
They can’t be here in person today, but their love and constant belief in me are what
have gotten me to this place, so excited to be speaking
with all of you.
Let’s go back in time… before we got to Brown.
I was recently digging through the old folders in my laptop to find my college essays.
There was a lot of cringing… a lot…
but I had to smile when I read my “Why Brown?”
essay.
I wrote that I wanted to be part of a community of individuals unafraid to pursue their dreams.
I’ll be the first to admit that it may sound cheesy, but I still believe it.
The part that I want us to focus on today is the idea of being unafraid to pursue our
dreams.
I guess the question of ‘what are your dreams?’ is just another way of asking
‘what do you want to be when you grow up?,’
but I don’t like that question.
What does “growing up” even mean?
When will we know when we’ve grown up?
And doesn’t this question seem to imply that we can only choose one thing?
Given how indecisive I am, that’s a horrifying concept to me.
I’m drawn to a different question.
When I’m at home, we all come together at 6pm to watch the nightly news on PBS.
One evening, an interview came on with Jaime Casap, Google’s former Education Evangelist.
He explained, "When I grow up, I don't ask—"
“When I talk to students, I don’t ask them what they want to be when
they grow up…
I ask:
What problems do you want to solve?”
I like this question because it shifts the framework from an egocentric narrative to
one that asks what we can do for others.
And, even better, it doesn’t require “growing up!”
It makes me proud to know that you, my peers in the Class of 2021, have already begun to
tackle this question.
With every petition, protest, and Zoom meeting, we’re reimagining the ways that systems
can work.
It takes tremendous courage to question the systems that we’ve grown up with, taken
for granted, and benefited from.
Yet this is exactly what so many of you have already done.
Our classmates have taught me that the privileges our education and opportunities are not to
be stored away for later use.
The time to use our voices and our collective power to make change is now.
We have the opportunity to set an example for how we want society to be, rather than
settle complacently for what is.
You, my classmates, jumped in to solve problems as soon as we got to Brown.
We were so new to everything, but despite it all, you worked alongside the classes before
us
to advocate for our community.
I’m still inspired by the movement we witnessed to bring air conditioning into the Ratty,
co-led by dining workers and students.
These efforts helped to improve the conditions for all of us, and especially for the people
who work so hard to not only feed us every day, but to also make us feel at home.
Whether it was through a warm greeting at the entrance from Gail or having a laugh with
Jose when he switched our IDs with the unassuming student behind us in line, these are the people
who make this place so special.
And these relationships extend well beyond the Van Wickle Gates.
Our classmates have shown us how to care for and learn from the Providence community.
Perhaps most importantly, our class took care of each other when absolutely nothing was
certain.
Despite the pandemic, we have risen to challenges with compassion.
We relied on the strength that comes from knowing that community care is possible.
We persevered because we advocated for each other, and that gave us hope.
To my classmates who are fighting to hold the school we love accountable
both locally and globally, thank you.
To my classmates who are building a national platform to end sexual violence at Brown and
around the country, thank you.
To my classmates who are using their voices to shed light on racial injustice,
especially in the wake of the murders of
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, Ma’Khia Bryant,
and many others, thank you.
To my classmates who are raising awareness about violence against Asian Americans in
our own community and beyond, thank you.
And finally, a big thank you to all of my classmates.
Whether you spent the last few years in the CIT, Watson, Biomed, or the List Art Building,
we all have the courage to use our education and curiosity to propel us into the next stage
of our lives.
Inside and outside of the classroom, we have learned to think critically about how we can
use our knowledge to benefit others.
Time and time again, you always show up, and that makes all the difference.
I know it’s time for us to leave this magical place that feels safe and supportive for so
many of us.
We are entering a world of uncertainty, and that can be frightening.
But we don’t need to be scared.
The experiences that we’ve had at Brown have prepared us for this moment.
The lessons our professors have instilled in us and the endless support of our families—both
the ones we grew up with and the ones we've created here—will carry us forward.
Of course, there will be setbacks, and yes, the world is full of problems.
But as we have shown here over the past few years, we are problem solvers.
We just need to figure out what problems we want to solve next, so...
let’s get started!
Congratulations to the Class of 2021!!!