(gentle music begins)
- I'm just so incredibly proud.
I love this girl so much,
and it's just been so wonderful to watch her blossom.
Absolutely just grow.
- Whenever she asks for something and she recognizes
that it's a challenge, she appreciates it.
And we're, we're really thankful for her as well.
- That's crazy.
I don't know what to do with that.
- I consider myself a first- generation here at ASU.
A good example for my family.
We'll keep going.
- I'm super happy that I was able to like,
have the opportunity here.
Yeah.
Okay.
- Don't you do that to me girl.
- You're good. You're good.
(laughter)
- Oh God. (all laughing)
- Dang you!
- My grandmother always pushed for us to get our education.
I have a piece of her with me.
This is her scarf.
Her rug design is on here.
She usually wove a rug pattern.
So it would have meant a lot to her for her to be here.
- All the people I've met,
both either speak Spanish, speak English,
and from other countries. It's just been a great experience.
And of course it's been hard too.
'Cause my parents, like, whenever they go to ceremonies
they don't understand what's going on,
but I know that they feel proud nonetheless.
- I want Corey to know that we always have,
we always have your back.
Always have your back.
And no matter what you do, we are,
I'm not gonna say proud again,
but we're so incredibly thankful and grateful for you
and all that you do.
And all that you've done and all you're going to do.
- I was so excited because I'm 74 years old.
I'm graduating finally.
I try to set the example for my son and daughter,
and my grandkids, especially grandkids.
- I want my dad to know that for his entire life
he's been an example for me.
And I've always found him to be an inspiration.
And this is just another one of those.
- I think it's always been a dream
for my father to do a master’s abroad, but then he couldn't.
I really wanted to continue his theme.
And I really wanted to explore different cultures.
And I thought a master’s here would help me do that.
- We're here now.
And she’d say without us, there's no her,
but without her we wouldn't be here either.
So I just want to say thank you.
And it was a fantastic ride,
and I know we're going to keep on riding it.
- I mean, I have two younger brothers right now
who are in school.
And I guess this, me graduating is like my way
of showing them that even if you don't go
to college right away, you can still get it done.
Anything's possible.
Why am I crying? You're supposed to be the one crying.
- So honored to study in the States,
and especially at ASU and this is awesome,
awesome school.
- ASU has provided more that we have dreamed of,
and we're very proud and we're always going to be thankful
for the opportunity that they were given.
- ASU has really given me the opportunities to be bold,
be fearless in my pursuits,
and has helped me build meaningful relationships
I'll carry with me really forever.
So I think just ASU has really helped me become
the kind of leader I want to be in the world, essentially.
- My next step,
I will be attending the University of Oxford
to pursue a master's of science and sustainability
enterprise in the environment.
- I'm working at a startup right now.
It's called Persephone.
We're carbon accounting.
So we help measure, manage and report
the carbon footprint,
so very aligned with my degree.
And I hope to continue to grow with them as well.
- So after graduation, I will be doing my master's
in sociology at Gent University in Belgium.
And then on after my master's,
I will be going to medical school.
- I'll be working for Deloitte.
- Oh, I just wanna let you know
I couldn't have done this without you guys,
physically and mentally.
And you know, your support means everything to me.
- I want you to know that I am so proud of you.
That every day that you were studying
and you never had time for parties or gatherings,
or dinners,
that we all knew what you were working so hard for.
And I always knew that you were going to do it.
Going to do this big.
And I'm very proud of you.
(inspiring music plays)
(inspiring music continues)