I think I'm gonna miss the most about the people. Samford is just home and so it's
like bittersweet as I'm excited to take this new step but I'm so sad that, you know, I don't get
to walk on campus and see this beautiful campus every day and see the professors and the people
that really have just become my community and have had such an impact on me.
The people and the experiences I've just had throughout the four years has just been
incredible, and not everyone's leaving but some are, and that's just kind of sad. I've definitely
made a tremendous change. My relationship with God has grown a tremendous amount. Just my friends and
just be able to meet all these different people that have had an impact on my life,
and my professors, a lot of people to feed into my life just make me a better person.
This is what they've been waiting for. It's all the hard work, the late nights, the grind. It's
all to get a degree from Samford University. It was hard work, but I'm so happy that I made it and I'm
done, so I'm excited. It's definitely challenging, but I learned a lot; the professors were very very
helpful and helped you in any way that they could. It felt like a family, too, and everyone
was very encouraging and challenged you. Samford does an amazing job about preparing their students
for real world scenarios and really preparing them for challenges they might face, and developing
perseverance within their students as they do that. In-person commencement is back, a throwback
for most, as outdoor ceremonies make a return in 2021. No matter inside or out, the feelings for
this place remain the same. I'm definitely going to miss the community that Samford offers. You
know, it's a tight-knit community where everyone's got each other's back, we're all helping each other
learn and grow along the way. This place means a lot to me because this is a good
school, and teachers are good teachers, and everybody's willing to help. It was
an incredible community just throughout the four years, just starting freshman year
until now. It's just such a small community, you get to meet so many people,
and the friends you have will just last a lifetime. If there is one thing that I feel that I've been,
it's empowered. I definitely feel that I've been empowered to just go out and really achieve
anything that I want to. I definitely think that I have the foundation from the classes I've had or
the experiences and opportunities, that no matter what I want to do in life, that I'll be able to
be prepared to take that next step and accomplish just that. 2021 commencement. Dr. Westmoreland's last
as Samford's president, but he leaves this class like so many before it: full of joy, full of hope.
"I want you to know, that I am undeserving of the kindness you have given so freely during the years
we have shared. And when this ceremony ends and you've said your final goodbyes, a new covenant
will exist between you and Samford, because for all time to come, this will be your alma mater.
And wherever you go and whatever you do, you'll carry our cherished hopes and dreams just as you
carry your own. And for decades to come, those you leave behind will cheer from this alabama hillside
as each day you engage your mind, your hands and your soul in all that you
think, say and do. And we will say, from hearts brimming with gratitude, 'that was my student.'
Congratulations, class of 2021. Our hopes, our prayers, are forever with you.