Updated 9:52 p.m. on Thursday May 2: This story was edited for clarity and grammar.
The orchestra sounded out the last notes of the Utah fight song and a shower of fireworks lit up the Huntsman Center at the conclusion of the commencement ceremonies Thursday.
8,007 students graduated from the U at the first commencement ceremony to be held in the evening at the U. The graduates gathered to celebrate years of hard work and receive their degrees. They came from all 27 Utah counties, all 50 states and 83 different countries, according to U president David Pershing.
Speakers at the ceremony spoke on education, community and the resiliency of the human spirit.
Elizabeth Murray, best-selling author and Harvard graduate, delivered the commencement address, encouraging students to see the blessings along their individual paths. She shared her own story, which was the source for her autobiography, “Breaking Night: a Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.”
In the 1980s, Murray was living in a tenement home in the Bronx with her parents, who were addicted to cocaine and used their welfare checks to buy more drugs. When they ran out of money, they would sell anything they had: The Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer, the television set and once, her sister’s winter coat. When the sisters got hungry, they would go through the floors of the building, begging for food. Sometimes ice cubes, chapstick and toothpaste were their only options.
“Actually, even in the dark periods of our lives, well, I believe that there are gifts in the paths that we come from,” she said.
Murray dropped out of school, but returned and graduated. She would fall asleep doing homework on trains and park benches and wake up in the morning to find her way back to school. She completed four years of work in two years and was accepted to Harvard University, which she attended on a scholarship she saw advertised in The New York Times. After The Times published an article about her strangers showed up at her school offering help.
“I didn’t know people could be good,” Murray said. “These people, they taught me, that you can really make a difference in a person’s life.”
The strangers paid her rent and filled her fridge. One woman did all she could to help by washing Murray’s clothes each week.
“I believe that there are blessings in the paths we walk,” Murray said. “I know that no matter where we come form, even if I haven’t met you personally, who doesn’t want a better life? Just because I was homeless doesn’t mean I lost my humanity. I would dream of a better life.”
Lauryn Roth graduated with degrees in biology, chemistry and environmental studies and was one of two students who addressed graduates at commencement. She reflected on the community that helped her through her five years at the U, from the mustached bus driver on her 8 a.m. bus to dedicated mentors.
“Our undergrad career was an obstacle course one in which I made mistakes, and I know I wouldn’t have made it through without the help of community,” Roth said.
Roth, who will be attending medical school at the U, said even if graduates do not remember the content of their lectures 10 years after the commencement ceremony, they should always remember the rationale behind them.
“Our next challenge… is finding our niche in the community,” she said.
Pershing encouraged graduates to move forward with confidence.
“Given what you’ve already achieved, you should be looking forward to life, even though there will be inevitable challenges,” Pershing said.
The U also conferred three honorary doctorate degrees. Apu Sherpa who received an honorary doctorate of human letters, has summited Mount Everest more times than anyone else in the world. He earned money to support his family by helping others climb the mountain, though he always wanted to become a doctor. He is the founder of an organization that provides funding for young Nepalese children to go to school.
Sherpa had one bit of advice for graduates.
“Set a goal, then achieve your goal,” he said.