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As I consider Commencement, I can’t help but think back to the very beginning of our time as �鶹��ýs. My mind goes right back to Convocation.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Convocation is a cherished tradition where the incoming first-year class is rounded up on this very same field that we will graduate on, and our first class photo is taken. We then march up to the David A Beckerman Recreation Center. That’s the day we were officially declared as part of the �鶹��ý family, whether we knew all the words to the �鶹��ý Fight Song or not.

I remember how long it took trying to get roughly 1,200 rowdy students to pose for that picture. Believe me, it took a while. Something tells me that someone was definitely blinking.

And now, four very long, and somehow very short, years later, we are on the very same field.

Our fancy dress clothes have come out. Our friends and families are gathered. Cameras will take hundreds of photos.

We'll catch up with friends, maybe discuss our post-graduation plans, or if you are anything like me, pretend to have them fully figured out, and then march back to where it all began.

Once again, we are rounded up as a class. The University of New Haven Undergraduate Class of 2026. And I’m almost certain that at some point today, another class photo will be taken whether we know it or not.

We will celebrate not only the past four years, but the future ahead of us.

These past four years have been filled with laughter, excitement, dining hall food we will strangely miss, unescapable late-night study sessions, and more exams than we’d care to remember. They have shaped us in ways we probably didn’t even realize.

When I look back on these years, I feel an immense sense of gratitude and pride, filled with memories that helped form who I am today. I think back on all that I have done, such as helping to welcome the incoming Class of 2028 as an Orientation and Transition Leader. This experience allowed me to connect to new students and not only mentor them, but learn from them.

I think about the positions I have held within the (USGA), which helped develop me professionally, but also taught me a lot about myself as a person. I think about all of the individuals that I was afforded the opportunity to connect with, from different Recognized Student Organizations (RSO) leaders to the Commuter Assistants, to student workers within offices around the University. Or the , my home away from home. The family that while I was not born into, it accepted me as one of their own, and encouraged me to be my true boricua self. My mind also goes to my fellow classmates, more than 40 percent of which are first-generation college graduates. This is a great feat that requires a special level of dedication and devotion.

And, despite the flood of positive emotions that overcome me, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also feel some fear.

Fear of leaving a place that has cultivated so many friendships, so much growth, and so much love. Fear of stepping into something unknown. Fear of what comes next.

But if I think back to Convocation, I realize I felt something very similar that day, too. Standing on this field as a first-year student, I felt excited, but also some uncertainty. I didn’t know what the next four years would bring. I didn’t know who I would become.

And, yet, here we are.

The only reason we are here today is because we moved forward anyway. We showed up. We pushed through the worry, the doubt, the challenging courses that I know we’ve all had, the long nights, and the moments we questioned ourselves.

Maybe this feeling we have, this mix of pride and fear, isn’t something to run from. Maybe it’s proof that we are growing.

This field has now seen us at the very beginning and at the very end. The difference between those two moments is everything we experienced in between.

So, as we close this chapter and step into the next one, let’s carry the same courage that brought us here. Let’s move forward, even if we don’t have every detail planned. Let’s trust that just like four years ago, we will figure it out and Power On.

Because if this field has taught us anything, it's that feeling unsure doesn’t mean we’re unprepared.

It just means we’re about to grow again.

As activist, artist, singer, and rapper, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, has said, “The Only Thing Stronger Than Hate Is Love,”

Let’s take the next step together, with love. Congratulations, Class of 2026.

Jailene Resto ’26, who will receive her bachelor’s degree in Public Health, was a finalist to serve as a student speaker at Commencement. The content above is based on the speech she delivered as part of the competitive process to select the student Commencement speakers.