So congrats seniors for finishing your last semester at QC (except for those who still have to take summer classes >_<) and finally graduating. ^^ Also, a special thanks for everyone who was able to come and listen to my speech (especially my friends Jenn and Sam since who just came to support me even though it wasn't their graduation ceremony) and I apologize for its shortcomings. I was really busy with final papers and had to attend a bunch of other celebration ceremonies so I never actually finished it until the day before.

The commencement speech was really hard to write and I scoured youtube looking for samples from speakers at other schools. Some of them were really creative. One guy ended his speech proposing to his girlfriend and others started singing in the middle of theirs. Sadly I do not think that mine will ever be as memorable but I really tried to personalize it and make it pertinent to the graduates in the audience. I deliberately stayed away from lofty, abstract generalizations about life and how people should live their life because I am only 21-years-old and I have barely lived my own life. So, the English major that I am, I just ended my speech by close-reading an anecdote of my huge fails at QC and I hope that people will be able to take something away from that.

Because of the packed schedule and threats of rain I had to limit my speech to three minutes otherwise I would have spoken more about my journey through QC, particularly how as a freshman it totally boggled my mind when professors encouraged students to come visit them during their office hours. I could not imagine why anyone would ever want to subject themselves to something so awkward and uncomfortable but eventually I learned the value of these appointments and found professors who I could speak to – there is still a level of awkwardness because I am a really socially awkward person but I did end up spending a lot of time in my professors' offices. So if you are an underclassman who feels really weirded out by office hours don't worry they are not that bad after a while. ^^

Finally, another huge thanks to those who filled my facebook wall with compliments about my speech, especially those who specifically friended me to convey those compliments. I am extremely flattered and you guys totally rock ^^

Below I pasted a copy of my commencement speech in case anyone is interested in reading it:

Good morning I’m Sharon and I would like to begin by thanking the President, Provost, Faculty, Distinguished Guests, Families and Friends because without their tremendous support and guidance none of us would be here today.

With that said, congratulations Class of 2010! We have finally made it through all the obstacles—the challenging courses, the papers, exams, endless hours of procrastination on facebook and youtube, and the miserable all-nighters. But before we move onto the next exciting phase of our lives and enter the “real world” or try to escape it as I am by attending grad school, we have come here today to celebrate our achievements and reflect on how far we have come.

So I would like to take a few moments to share my journey through Queens College, and although it will probably be different from your own, I hope it will still inspire some good memories. Thinking back to the incredibly shy, quiet freshman I was four years ago, I cannot believe that I am actually standing here delivering a speech to hundreds of people. I remember feeling completely lost. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and it definitely took me a while to figure it out as I switched from wanting to become a lawyer to a business person and finally an English Professor, which is probably the least lucrative so maybe I went the wrong way with that one.

But through all of that confusion I grew and changed a lot, as I am sure the rest of you have. I found my niche in the English Department where I made mangy great friends, especially in the honors seminar on love where things got really hot, heated, and intense—our discussions of course. All of my professors have been tremendously inspiring and supportive and a special thanks to my mentor Dr. Duncan Faherty I never would’ve gotten into grad school without all of your help. Next fall I will attend the English PhD Program at UCLA but for those of you who do not have a definite plan about what to do after graduation don’t worry just think of yourselves as freshmen of life and if you found your way to join your peers at commencement today then I am sure you will eventually find your calling.

So I am supposed to end my speech with some inspiring words about the exciting future that lies ahead, which is especially hard because we will be graduating into a bleak economic recession and what advice can I, a 21-year-old girl who spent most of her time at QC studying tell you about life? So instead I will end with an anecdote of possibly my least shining moment at QC. It was so horrifying that I nearly repressed it entirely from memory but now it will be forever memorialized on live television. So I had to give a PowerPoint Presentation for one of my classes and the PowerPoint was awesome, I put in some amazing animation effects and I pulled an all-nighter rehearsing for hours but when I finally got up there to speak my mind went completely blank and if there were tumbleweeds they would be rolling. I wanted to run and hide and throw up. I think I had to restart a couple of times before I could get through the entire thing. So that was a mortifying experience. But what can you take from it and what have I learned?

No matter how much you prepare, life is unexpected and irony will get you. And if you are just cruising and have never failed at anything don’t worry you will—big time. But one mistake or even many mistakes do not define you and people that judge you by those mistakes, just drop them because they are not worth it. I still ended up doing very well in the class if anyone was wondering. As long as you do not obsess about those failures and continue pushing ahead you’ll be all right. I certainly have, delivering a speech before hundreds of people when I sadly couldn’t even do it before six. Also, restarting is okay, sometimes you have to pause, rethink and re-collect yourself before taking the next step forward and if you are still feeling a little lost, helpless, or afraid then look around you at all of the people here with you today, a shout-out to my parents, awesome twin sister, and my friends, because you are not alone, Class of 2010 congratulations and we will be taking the next bold step into the future together.