- Good afternoon, everyone.
A warm greeting to the graduating students,
to their friends, to their families,
and to my magnificent Harvard colleagues.
It's a distinct honor to have the opportunity
to say a few words at this graduation celebration.
I'm Henry Leitner.
I'm the  Interim Dean for Harvard University Extension.
I'm also the Chief Innovation Officer at the Division of Continuing Ed.
I'm also a faculty member in computer science at the School of Engineering.
In fact, I estimate I have taught more than
10,000 students over the years at Harvard's Extension and Summer Schools
as well as at Harvard College over the many years that I've been here,
which means I guess I've been at Harvard a really, really long time.
How long, you're wondering?
Well, let's just say, I'm old enough to have collaborated
on problem sets with a certain undergraduate at Harvard College,
one of those Harvard billionaire dropouts,
a guy named Bill Gates who started a little known company named Microsoft.
Fast-forward a few years,
I'm also young enough to have actually taught in one of my courses,
one of those other famous Harvard billionaire dropouts,
this one, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame.
But that's enough about me.
This day, this occasion is really all about you.
So on behalf of the Harvard Extension School, its faculty,
its administration, let me extend again a warm welcome to the 2020 graduating class.
Let me also, once again, extend a very warm welcome to your families,
to your friends, to your well-wishers on this,
the 384th year of Harvard University's existence,
and its 369th graduation celebration.
I'm going to begin my remarks with some historical perspective.
Harvard University was the first college to be founded in the colonies.
Back in 1636, the "Great and General Court of the Governor and Company of
the Massachusetts Bay in New England"
approved the sum of £400 for the establishment of a college.
If we were to travel back in time to the very first Harvard graduation celebration,
we would find that it was held on September the 23rd in the year 1642.
It was held in Harvard Yard,
where some nine men,
yes, only men, were graduated with bachelor degrees.
Members of that graduating class delivered orations in Latin and in
English and a weekend of feasting and merry-making for six nearby towns then took place.
For those of you who are a little concerned about this screwy math, I mean,
the fact that 1642 is some 378 years behind us,
and yet this is just the 369th graduation celebration, well,
rest assured that Harvard graduation exercises actually have been canceled
a small handful of times for reasons as varied as an epidemic of not COVID-19,
but smallpox, and for something called the American Revolutionary War.
I might also mention the fact that in the year 1644,
apparently, there were no candidates,
no not one who was found fit to
graduate and so there was no graduation celebration at all.
I must tell you, while I loved seeing graduates and they're proud families in person,
I am truly gratified by the fact that we are able to hold
this graduation celebration online today despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Graduation ceremonies have evolved quite a bit over the past 300 plus years.
Their revelry and the celebrations have become
somewhat more sophisticated and also a little bit more subdued.
According to a recent Harvard Crimson story,
the few graduates at the 1703 commencement managed to drink some 14 barrels of beer.
Of course, Harvard graduation has grown,
had is growing considerably since 1642.
In fact, just the Harvard Extension School today
is awarding degrees to more than 1,000 graduates.
The majority of these degrees are for students who have earned
their Master of Liberal Arts Degree in more than 20 different subject areas.
In fact, it's the case that Harvard Extension is awarding
more degrees than 11 of
the other 12 degree-granting schools that comprise Harvard University.
I am really, really proud of the fact that
the Harvard Extension School community is no longer local,
no longer enrolling just people from the Greater Boston and Cambridge area,
it has become truly global.
Nearly one in five of our Harvard Extension School graduates is an international student.
We have individuals from Canada,
from Russia, from Australia, Japan, Thailand,
Spain, South Korea, Singapore,
Austria, Columbia, just to name a few of them.
The fact that so many international students can participate in
our academic programs is a result of our investment in what we call online education,
online teaching and learning.
No longer does the Harvard Extension School
educate only students who live within commuting distance to our campus.
The Extension School today can offer a richer,
wider selection of courses from some of the very,
very best that Harvard has to offer and it can make
these courses available to students everywhere,
from US military personnel in war zones, and by the way,
you might know that a number of active duty and military veterans are graduating today,
to single working parents living perhaps in the Boston area,
who might not be able to attend class in person every week,
to working professionals who might be getting up in
the middle of the night or early morning to attend online courses,
depending upon their geographic location.
More than 70 percent of our courses this past academic year,
where in fact, available online before the COVID-19  crisis hit.
I take enormous pleasure in having been the person who started
Harvard Extension on this path more than 20 years ago.
Let me give you one final digression back to Harvard history.
University extension was founded in 1910.
It was founded to provide local adult part-time learners with educational opportunities.
One year after Abbot Lawrence Lowell became the president of Harvard back in 1909,
he founded the Harvard Extension School.
The Extension School then grew out of a bequest by his great uncle,
John Lowell Junior and the Lowell Institute of Boston.
Abbot Lawrence Lowell ensured that the new evening program would be
firmly rooted and well nourished in this soil of Harvard yard,
continuing the Lowell Institute Tradition of Harvard Faculty,
serving the common women and men of Boston.
In its very first year of existence,
some 16 courses were taught at Harvard Extension
and 863 women and men enrolled from the local community.
This year, by comparison,
more than 900 courses were taught,
more than 15,000 people enrolled in these courses.
Over a century ago,
one extension called course tuition was pegged to the equivalent of two bushels of wheat,
whereas today, well, I guess you know the cost of tuition,
it's not two bushels of wheat.
As graduates, you should know that
the Harvard Extension School is really, very much a part  of Harvard University,
although there were many Harvard schools founded prior to the Harvard Extension School,
such as the medical school,
the law school, the business school.
There were many Harvard schools founded after us,
including the Graduate School of Education,
the Kennedy School of Government,
the School of Public Health,
and the School of Design.
I'm sharing these facts with you so that you may
appreciate that although we may not be the oldest school at Harvard,
we are definitely not the youngest,
but we are one of the largest by far.
Every student, every graduate,
of the Harvard Extension School tries to define for himself or
herself the distinctive experience of attending our academic programs.
But how can one aptly describe what it means to earn a degree at Harvard,
perhaps in the evening or perhaps online, early in the morning hours?
One could speak of the hardships of working full time,
perhaps commuting to the Harvard campus when we were pre-COVID-19,
struggling to find a legal parking space,
juggling work and family responsibilities,
all while trying to find the time to study.
Some of you may have been called to active duty in the military.
Others have had children.
Others have been caring for aging parents.
In fact, I think some of you have become aging parents along the way,
and still others have had to relocate to another state or even to another country.
Some of you experienced happier events that may have interrupted your academic progress,
such as a promotion or some amazing opportunity to
contribute your time to social and civic causes.
In a world often fraught with tragedy and destruction,
you have sought knowledge and understanding and ways of improving our world.
My very dear friend and former student
and former teaching fellow
and now Harvard Government Professor,
Latanya Sweeney, captured  the experience succinctly
when in her Extension School graduation address way back in 1995.
She stated, and I quote,
"Very seldom does life provide a second chance.
I could not have done it without the Harvard Extension School", end of quote.
I'm quite certain that what Latanya said
some 25 years ago resonates with the experience that many of you have,
who are assembled here today.
Because for many of you,
the Harvard Extension School has provided
a unique opportunity to do something you might not have done otherwise.
So I urge you on this day to follow Latanya's words and in the best Harvard tradition,
Carpe diem, seize the day.
Seize the day now,
today, celebrate your accomplishments,
and you should continue to seize the day every
time you achieve something beyond your wildest expectations.
When you compete for that dream job,
when you take that audacious risk,
when you aspire to do something great with your family,
with your friends, or with your colleagues.
The diploma you'll be receiving has written in the traditional Latin,
"Universitas Harvardiana".
It bears the signatures of President Larry Bacow,
dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
Claudine Gay, and myself.
You should never underestimate the value of being counted among Harvard's alumni,
and for that matter,
Harvard's development office surely will not.
Every student, every graduate of the Harvard Extension School,
tries to define for himself or herself
the distinctive experience of attending our academic evening,
online and hybrid programs.
How best can we describe what it means to attend Harvard at night?
Be it our evening classes online,
or ones that you've maybe consume at night,
I believe nobody has captured the experience better than
the late Nobel Prize winning Irish poet, Seamus Heaney,
who celebrated Harvard University's 350th and 375th anniversaries by reciting his poem,
Villanelle, for an anniversary in the Terse and Terry theater within Harvard Yard.
To concluding, quatrain of his poem goes as follows.
Here it is. "Begin again,
where frosts and tests were hard.
Find yourself or  founder here.
Imagine a spirit moves.
John Harvard walks the yard.
The books stand open,
and the gates unbarred."
For every Harvard Extension School student and every graduate,
this poem sums up what it means to study at night in Harvard Yard.
But I sometimes wonder how Seamus Heaney
might have changed that phrase for our online courses,
maybe it would have gone something like,
"Begin again where frost and tests were hard.
Find yourself or founder.
Here, imagine.
A spirit moves .
John Harvard surfs the web, walks the yard.
The books online, stand open and the gates unbarred."
You should all feel very proud to be joining the ranks of Harvard graduates today.
As graduates  of the Harvard Extension School,
you are about to become a part of a distinguished Harvard academic tradition,
one of which you and your families and friends should feel fortunate and honored.
I really look forward to all of us being
together in person for the official class of 2020 commencement,
hopefully, this September, whenever it is safe to do so.
So in conclusion to the class of 2020,
in all of your diversity,
in all of your distinction,
in all of your achievement,
I salute you and I wish you much continued success.
Let me turn now to my awesome colleague, Dr. Suzanne Spreadbury.
She is Dean of Academic Programs and the Chief
Academic Officer at the Harvard Extension School.
She will share her thoughts and insights about our graduating class.
Dean Spreadbury, take it away.
- Thank you, Henry, and thank you for those inspirational words.
As Dean of Academic Programs,
I work to ensure the quality of our degrees,
which are designed specifically for the working adult student.
It is as true today as it was in 1913,
we provide a Harvard education without interference with employment.
I know all the challenging courses and difficult degree requirements including thesis,
capstone, and independent study projects that you had
to complete to receive this hard-earned degree.
I know well that your instructors,
in addition to content,
taught you to write clearly,
think broadly, and check your facts more diligently.
I also know similar graduates before you,
a degree represents a great deal of personal,
financial, and professional sacrifice,
including the juggling of multiple roles as you added the pursuit of
academic scholarship on top of an already engaged life as an employee,
a spouse, a parent,
a caretaker, active citizen,
and likely many, many more.
This year, however, unlike other recent graduates,
you had to contend with the global public health event that greatly upended our lives.
It frayed emotions, tested patience, escalated stress,
challenged your sense of financial security and health,
and perhaps entailed you grieving the loss of
someone close to you or close to someone you know.
The class of 2020 has truly mastered what Michelle Obama coined "the art of the swerve",
working around life obstacles to stay true to your passions and obtain your goals.
All of you represent one of the largest graduating classes in our history,
over 1,200 diverse students learning from 43 US states,
multiple time zones, 50 foreign countries including Ecuador, Malta and, Syria,
various professions, from barista to CIO, and all life stages,
which means you learned as much from each other as your talented instructors.
Your age range alone which spans 60 years
is noteworthy and distinctive.
Let's pause to acknowledge the intergenerational learning that happened because some of
you were born during World War II and others about the time that Google launched Gmail.
All of you studied in the evening on campus here in Harvard Yard,
online around the clock,
in your home, on your laptops,
and perhaps even your phones.
Five percent of our degrees  representing nearly 70 individuals will be conferred on
courageous men and women who are active members or veterans of our US Armed Forces,
one is retired navy SEAL, Scott Taylor.
Scott was elected to the House of
Representatives and now serves in the Virginia House of Delegates.
For his thesis research,
Scott investigated how the Department of Defense has handled
changing technologies in the realm of artificial intelligence.
We sincerely thank you Scott
and all our military graduates for their sacrifice,
commitment, and public service.
Our graduates have earned degrees in over 40 fields of study.
The  diversity is impressive and represents
a full gamut of liberal arts and professional disciplines,
all the way from anthropology to software engineering.
For the first time, we'll award degrees in three new fields,
data science, development practice,
and industrial organizational psychology.
While the large numbers of fields is impressive,
it is what these numbers represent that is so inspiring,
more than 1,200 intellectual transformation journeys,
all are unique and all are commendable.
But let me share a few examples.
In our undergraduate program, Sarah Forrher,
one of our youngest students discovered a love
of and talent for Greek and Latin languages.
In addition to her outstanding academic achievements in the classics,
she also followed the pre-medical track.
She plans to apply to Harvard Medical School after completing
her master's degree in classical civilizations at Oxford University this fall.
Now, our oldest graduate this year,
Gene McVay, 76 years young,
began her undergraduate degree with us in her late 50s,
a mere 20 years ago while working at Harvard University as a full-time employee.
As she wrote to her adviser,
like, "Don Quixote, I plan to follow the quest to the end,
or mine, whichever came first.
Happily, I have arrived at the finish line relatively unscathed,
having gained greatly from the wisdom of my professors."
At the graduate level,
we have talented professionals from all areas of business in
our management and finance programs who studied economics,
organizational behavior, leadership, emerging markets, and corporate finance.
They also completed research with faculty on the gig economy,
blockchain technology, and career identities.
Our math for teaching candidates learn new pedagogies to
inspire middle and high school math students in the US and around the globe.
Our software engineers made advances in machine learning while
our information management students gained expertise in cybersecurity.
Our digital media students created websites and mobile apps not only for our convenience,
but for our community building and improve mental health.
One of our Masters degree in creative writing graduates,
Lesley Bannatyne is already winning awards for her writing.
Her thesis comprised of 12 short stories that explore second chances,
making her a wonderful fit for
the Harvard Extension School because our students exemplify
the courage necessary to try again when circumstances might cause others to stop.
Yeti Yang, international relations graduate,
focused her thesis on an area of the state of
Georgia dubbed the most diverse square mile in America
because more than half of its residents are foreign born.
Her important work could support other US communities
to engage in successful refugee resettlement.
Matthew Jacobs, a sustainability graduate,
analyzed the apparel industry's current and future impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
While Shelly Franklin created a sustainability action plan
for food rescue program in the city of Monterey, California.
Hue and Anne Fam's research focused on current immigration dilemmas of
abandoned children of US soldiers and Vietnamese women after the Vietnam War.
Adding to the strength of the thesis are his insights in details from
Fam's personal experience as someone who had to flee Vietnam after the war.
In our psychology program,
Shivani Hotelling worked on an implicit bias transformation program
in which he devised a series of workshops to help individuals overcome
social prejudices rooted in the unconscious and automatic processes of the mind.
For her final journalism project on Chinese human rights violations against the Uyghurs,
Canadian journalist Thomasine Hasaan spent a month in
Turkey interviewing Chinese re-education camp survivors and their families.
Now, several Museum Studies graduates participated in
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the Harvard Museum of the ancient Near East.
When 3,000-year old mummy cases were opened for the first time in history,
they along with Harvard's Egyptologist Professor Peter Manuelian,
analyzed the contents to add to
the museum's database to be used by anthropology scholars from around the world.
Many of our graduates also find
themselves at the front of the fight against the coronavirus.
Andrew Paris is a physician scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew recently submitted a manuscript on long regeneration to Nature Cell Biology,
which he proposed a novel therapy that may help treat Covid-19.
About half of the data in the paper was generated as
part of Andrew's ALM biotechnology thesis.
Now, all of you graduating today,
I want you to close your eyes,
take a deep breath,
feel and embody the pride of your accomplishment that we're celebrating.
Remember that first day in that first Harvard classroom.
Think about all you've learned.
Think about newly discovered academic passions,
acquired professional training and expertise,
and expository arguments you crafted and will continue to
craft with sound logic, reason, and evidence.
Where there was once a bit of uncertainty on that first day,
there should now be bold clarity about your academic ability.
An ability and a confidence not just to meet but exceed all manner of personal,
academic, professional, civic, as well as public health challenges.
Because look what you've been able to do so far.
Graduates, today, you represent the future of
higher education as predicted 10 years ago and will no doubt continue.
Part-time, flexible, modular, online,
and face to face,
if this and you and all of your remarkable accomplishments are the future,
then I greatly look forward to tomorrow.
On behalf of all the Harvard Extension School faculty and staff, we congratulate you.
We are humbled and inspired by
extraordinary academic efforts and look forward
to learning where your Harvard degree takes you as you,
and indeed all of us.
Continue to practice the art of the swerve. Thank you.
- Thank you, Suzanne, for those heartfelt words.
- Thank you, Henry. I appreciate it.
- Now, we will hear from our ALM master degree program directors,
all of whom want to offer words of congratulations.
First up will be my colleague, Andrew Engelward,
the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and
director of the ALM Mathematics for Teaching program.
He joins us now from his home in Conrad
with a special message for the Harvard Extension School class of 2020.
- Congratulations.
My name is Andy Engelward.
I'm the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and
director of the Math for Teaching Program here at the Extension School.
Who knew that you are also special,
that you could make a virtual commencement happen?
It's because of you that all the faculty and staff wanted to
make sure that your special day is exactly that special.
Special in so many unexpected ways.
We've all made it through a string of online learning
of uncertainty, but there is one thing for certain, you did it.
You are now graduates,
and congratulations on all that you've accomplished.
I can close my eyes and picture all of you, your families,
your friends, and probably a few babies wheeling until late as well.
Now, put on your regalia,
march around your living room and whoop it up.
You deserve it. Congratulations class of 2020.
- My name is Laura Wilcox,
and I'm the Director of the Management and Finance
Programs here at Harvard Extension School.
I want to congratulate you on
all your hard work and all of that it's taken to get to this point.
Before you go, I have three more to-dos for you.
The first one is to celebrate.
Please take time out of your busy schedule to celebrate.
Friends and family often come together during times of sorrow,
but you have given them an opportunity to come together in a time of joy and pride.
Please don't squander that opportunity.
The second is to be in gratitude.
There is a lot to be thankful for these days.
There is also a lot of people to thank for getting us to where we are today.
No one does it alone,
which brings me to my third to-do,
and that is to pay it forward.
Please give of yourself,
give of your talents and of your time.
You have the focus and fortitude to be one of the few
to actually receive a degree from Harvard Extension School,
and you should take great pride in that.
You know how to balance multiple,
sometimes competing priorities under pressure and even in a pandemic.
Therefore, please go forth,
give, be in gratitude, and celebrate.
Congratulations.
I'm so proud of you.
- Congratulations graduates in Information Technology Programs,
Digital Media, Software Engineering,
Information Management Systems, and our new Data Science Program.
This is Hongming Wang,
Senior Research Advisor for ALM IT programs.
It is my special pleasure to congratulate all of you today.
As graduates of Harvard Extension IT programs,
you have accomplished something truly extraordinary,
something that requires dedication,
hard work, and resourcefulness.
You have now become part of a very special community of scholars,
a community that spans the entire globe and is one
of unparalleled academic excellence and achievement.
Congratulations ALM IT class of 2020.
- Tom Gloria here,
Director of the Graduate Sustainability and Development Practice Programs.
To all the graduates of the Division of Continuing Education, congratulations.
You've done it. The day you've worked so hard to achieve is finally here.
Take stock in this personal and professional achievement,
cherish this moment in time.
To my Sustainability and Development Practice graduate students,
we need you more than ever to use your education,
your knowledge, skills, life experiences,
and above all your passion to make the world a better place.
A big shout out to cohort number one for Development Practice.
Harvard MDP is now on the map.
So to all the graduates,
make sure to thank your family and friends for
supporting you through this wonderful journey.
From this day moving forward,
you will always be a graduate of the WGU,
the world's greatest university, Harvard. Cheers.
- Everyone. I'm Stephen Denkin,
one of the Research Advisors and Program
Director for life sciences in Harvard Extension School.
Congratulations on finishing your degree.
The Class of 2020 has a unique opportunity.
In recent months, many of you pivoted your caps on
idea or made last minute changes to your thesis or final paper.
You did this in response to the pandemic,
and I applaud your effort.
As you navigate your future and work to solve problems,
always remember that we're all in this together.
Congratulations.
- Hello, graduates.
I'm Catherine Burton Jones,
Director of the Museum Studies Program.
Congratulations to you all.
My students are ready to take their place in the world of museums.
They will open doors through new narratives and inclusive programming.
They will make space for all audiences with programs on wellness and accessibility.
Museums will become more diverse internally and externally.
The field will be remade through their efforts to explore dance,
music, and the healing power of art.
The museums that they foster will be agents of change and social justice.
They will be fiscally responsible and accountable and transparent.
As Jean-Luc Picard would say, make it so.
- I'm Steven Shoemaker,
The Director of Liberal Arts at DCE.
I want to recognize that you've just finished a long uphill climb.
You've successfully juggled your career,
your home life, and the constant demands of your academic program.
This may have been particularly true in the last year while
you've juggled a Capstone Project or the writing of the thesis.
I think that perhaps after all of that,
you may be able to identify with a famous quote from Mark Twain,
who after completing a particularly arduous task in his own life,
said the following, "I'm glad that I've done it.
Yes, partially because it was worth doing,
but mostly because I shall never have to do it again."
- Hi, I'm Jody Clineff,
Assistant Director of Writing Programs and Advisor to the ALM and journalism.
On behalf of Director Papilanka and our instructors,
I congratulate you on your accomplishments.
You've done amazing work in the field,
from investigating gas leaks in Massachusetts before the explosions,
to writing about human rights violations in China against the weaker.
We need journalists now more than ever,
and we're grateful for the accomplishments you're already making.
We can't wait to see what you'll do in your future.
Congratulations, graduates.
- That was great. It was so great to see everyone.
Now, the ALB program and graduates will always have a special place in my heart.
As I started my Harvard Extension School career as
an ALB Advisor some 30-something years ago,
how long have you been here?
- Longer than 30.
- Really? How much longer?
- Five years more than that.
- Oh my gosh. Okay. Well. ALB graduates,
your tenacity and passion for learning is what
drives and inspires all of us at the extension school.
Now, I want to take a moment because we want to acknowledge
the entire ALB and ALM academic advising and program staff.
These are the advisors who've gotten you through,
answered all your questions in e-mails,
and have helped us design this event today.
They send their heartfelt congratulations as you take on the next challenges in life.
They will miss working with you,
but know that you will accomplish amazing achievements.
- Thank you, Suzanne.
Well, every year we award
over 40 commencement prizes to recognize the truly exceptional work of our graduates.
We will celebrate the recipients at our on-campus commencement.
But there's one prize that at this particular time in
our history we wanted to award today as it recognizes public service.
Shirley Greene, our Associate Dean of Students,
will award the Derek Bok Public Service Prize.
This prize, in honor of former President Derek Bok,
is awarded to graduates who,
while pursuing academic studies,
also gave generously of their time to improve
the quality of life for others in the larger community.
- Hi, everyone. I'm Shirley Greene,
Associate Dean of students for the division of Continuing Education.
I'm very pleased to be with you today to bestow
the Derek Bok Public Service Prize to
three truly deserving graduates of the class of 2020.
This year's recipients exemplify the impact that
Harvard Extension School graduates continue to have on our global community.
Our first recipient is Andrew Almazan Anaya.
Andrew is a 25 year old who hails from Mexico City.
He completed his ALM in his second language,
which tied into the research that he conducted for his ALM thesis.
Andrew investigated how elementary school instruction in
the second language is related to higher verbal intelligence course later in life.
He previously earned a bachelor's degree in psychology,
another in medicine, and a masters of education.
Amidst his rigorous studies,
Andrew always finds time to commit to public service.
He has worked with multiple organizations to ford
educational opportunities for underserved and underrepresented students in Mexico.
He held a volunteer role of research consultant for
the Federal Law Amendment on education at the Mexican House of Representatives.
He contributed to the creation and approval of a new federal law for
the advancement and inclusion of special needs
students with high intellectual capabilities.
Andrew has also served as academic delegate to Mexico with
a non-governmental organization known as World Council for the Gifted and Talented,
where he represented local and national interests of
both teachers and schools for students with special needs.
Most recently, Andrew was
the inclusion project developer with the Commission of Human Rights of Mexico,
where he focused on fostering the development of
undeserved talent in indigenous communities throughout Mexico.
Congratulations to you, Andrew.
Our next recipient is Bernadette Catherine O'Connell de la Flor.
Bernadette is earning her ALM degree in management at the age of 50.
She is a resident of Lima, Peru,
who enjoys traveling to Cambridge whenever time permits.
She holds a bachelor's of business administration from the University of Miami and a
master's in public administration from
Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
Between November 2016 and December 2019,
Bernadette served as a volunteer in two military based hospitals in Lima,
Peru, where she worked to lower incidences of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections.
During her time at these hospitals,
she worked with multiple stakeholders,
including clinical staff, IT departments,
patients and their families to reduce and eradicate
hospital-acquired UTIs in both men's and women's wards.
Bernadette's were included bedside training and coaching for clinical staff.
She also implemented methods and
algorithms for statistical analysis of rates of infection.
Her hard work led to the overhaul rate of infections and
a more proactive versus reactive approach to infection management and outcomes.
Congratulations to you, Bernadette.
Our final recipient is Maria Eleni Natnia.
She goes by Marilena Dania.
Marilena is earning her ALB in a field of study in psychology.
She has worked with three different organizations committed to serving
the LGBTQ+ community through charitable endeavors.
She served as the event director and
instigator of the first gender and identity symposium in Greece,
which was held three years ago today,
on May 28th, 2017.
Marilena served as the social outreach director of It Gives Better, Greece.
Part of the It Gets Better Project,
where amongst other projects she ran a zero budget awareness campaign on social media,
reaching over half a million LGBTQ+ youth in Greece and Cyprus.
Most recently, in December 2019,
Marilena founded Safe hour,
a self-funded volunteer organization that provides
a safe and supportive space for LGBTQ+ people seeking help and assistance.
Congratulations to you, Marilena.
Congratulations to all of our recipients of the 2020 Derek Bok Public Service prize.
Before I leave you,
allow me to share some words from Dr. Martin Luther King Junior,
"If you cannot fly, then run.
If you cannot run, then walk.
If you cannot walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward."
Thank you to the class of 2020 for showing us that it's possible to keep moving forward.
Congratulations.
- Thank you, Shirley. That was fantastic.
Now, as you learned from my opening remarks,
I know you were listening, Henry.
- I was there.
- You were listening. All right.
Students who graduate from the Harvard Extension School wear many hats.
Now, our next speaker is no exception.
She is a teacher, researcher,
practicing lawyer, spouse, and caregiver to three wonderful children.
As our first recipient of an ALM in developmental practice,
Miss Hadiza Hamma is a faculty member at the University of Abuja,
in Nigeria, where she earned her PhD in law.
As a practicing lawyer for the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice,
her responsibilities include drafting,
amending, and authoring briefs on legislation.
We are inspired by her courage, humanity,
and grace to help those in need,
especially young women in her home country of Nigeria.
I present to you Miss Hadiza Hamma.
- Hello. My name is Hadiza Hamma.
I'm graduating from ALM in Development Practice.
I'm a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law University of Abuja,
Nigeria, and I'm from Yobe State in Northern Nigeria.
I was raised in a country where the challenges of
sustainable development are too obvious.
A sizable portion of the population lives in
abject poverty with limited access to basic necessities of life,
such as food, clean water,
education, and even healthcare.
I have therefore always wanted to
contribute to finding lasting solutions to these problems.
I also want to be a better teacher to my students and a motivation to other women,
especially those in Northern Nigeria who are usually held back by restrictions rooted in
negative sociocultural practices and norms, among other things.
I encourage them to go to school because many women like me in
Northern Nigeria represent the least educated members of society.
To achieve all this,
I realized that I needed such education that I could combine with my background in
law to develop the capacity to address issues from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The kind of education I thought could only be
obtained from a distinguished center of learning.
Moreover, having spent all my life and attended all schools in Nigeria,
I needed the exposure that came with an international institution of repute.
So when I discovered the graduate degrees at Harvard Extension School,
I knew my prayers have been answered.
I started with two open enrollment courses in 2017,
summer term and graduated with an ALM in development practice in 2019.
My ALM journey was not all smooth.
I'm a mother of three,
and my youngest child was 20 months old when I started the program.
Dr. Mark Leighton's proseminar course
was so demanding that I thought I would never make it through.
Also, to this day, I have no idea how I
survived professor T. Mills's Project Management course.
On a typical day, I woke up at 5:00 AM,
I'm off to work by 7:00 AM,
and back home by 5:00 PM.
By the time I'm done with house chores, children's homework,
and setting things up for the next day,
it's already 10:00 PM.
Then I sit at my desk to work on course readings,
assignments, and so on.
By 12:00 AM, my online classes normally start,
only to end about 2:00 or 3:00 AM.
So I get about 3-4 hours of sleep,
and I'm up and running again the next morning.
At the beginning of the fall term of 2017,
I had to drop the two preadmission courses I was taking
because I needed to care for my mother,
who had fallen critically ill at that time.
It was months later before she got better and life got back to normal.
Coincidentally, about the same time,
work became more intense that I hardly could find quality time to spend with my family.
My two year old was becoming very unsettled.
My husband is a busy military officer,
and so as much as he wanted to,
there was very little he could do to help.
At that point, I gave up on completing the ALM.
I was simply exhausted.
I recall that a few people had advised me against pursuing another degree.
The reason that first,
I was a woman and so should not subject
myself to the rigors that only mentioned on the go.
Secondly, I had three degrees already:
a bachelors, a masters, and a PhD.
"Then why do you have ambition?" They asked.
They meant no harm, and I understood those who held that view
because they spoke from the background,
the cultural background of which I am very familiar.
For a moment, I thought that maybe they were right.
In order not to waste the two courses I had already completed,
I figured I'll just push myself to
do two more courses in order to earn a graduate certificates
and just end it there.
When I told my husband I was quitting, he said, "No,
you don't give up on something that means so much to you because of the challenges.
You face those challenges and you conquer them."
That statement changed everything,
and I found myself giving my all to complete the ALM.
To my utter amazement,
the learning process turned out to be very enjoyable.
Of course, it was all thanks to my professors,
to the TAs, to my classmates, and of course,
the various resources that Harvard placed at dispersion places,
at our disposal made a huge difference.
In a way, my education brought me closer to my children
because we ended up studying together most times at home.
In fact, my two teenage daughters are the greatest beneficiaries of my experience
because it has evoked in them a desire to work hard to succeed.
I knew I could not have come this far alone.
I'm a firm believer in God and my family have always been supportive,
my parents, my siblings,
and a very close friend that I hold so dear, have always been there.
My husband is my greatest pillar of support,
and the exceptional people I met at Harvard made
me feel that I belonged in the Harvard family.
Finally, I would like to share with you
the three main takeaways I could identify from my Harvard ALM journey.
One, we should have the courage to venture out
of our comfort zone to achieve anything that we believe is right,
even if it challenges our cultural identities.
For me, it has led me to acquire lifelong knowledge and skills that I will
continue to leverage in my quest to meet my society and hopefully,
the world a better place.
Number 2, when we set out to achieve anything,
there are bound to be challenges.
What matters is our ability to overcome any odds to attain success.
Finally, number 3, there
is nothing as precious as the people we meet every step of the way,
the ones who light up our path where we thought all was darkness. Thank you.
- What do you think?
- That was truly inspiring. That was awesome.
- Yeah. I got to meet her last summer, we had lunch.
- Live and in person?
- Live and in person.
- One of those Zoom lunches?
- No. We sat across from the table,
looked eye to eye. It was lovely.
- Oh, fantastic. I remember when students used to be on campus.
Well, no graduation celebration would be
complete without hearing from you, our graduates.
You are truly the stars of this show.
Our first message is from Carmen Hines,
who's the outgoing President of the Harvard Extension Student Association.
That's a student group focused on creating community among all of our students,
both those on campus and those online.
Carmen joins us now from her home in Chicago.
- As Harvard Extension Student Association President,
I want to congratulate you on this amazing achievement.
It has been an incredible honor to serve as
your student body president and to meet so many of you on campus,
and at our online events, and general assemblies.
During my tenure as president,
I learned that a true leader acts with integrity,
and powers the executive board,
and helps their members realize their full potential.
Through my Harvard summer study abroad experience,
I learned to value impermanence and live in the moment.
As Harvard Global Ambassador of Chicago,
I learned that I am the Harvard brand and that
community ties are held together through shared experience.
Through my studies, I learned the science,
and now it's time to explore the art of management.
As a passionate strategist,
I use the framework I created here, Customer Care.
After graduation, I plan to travel the world and reflect on my Harvard experience and
dream of a plan for a different world where more people are living in their passion.
I'm drawing my inspiration from us,
we are the legacy.
A unique time in history characterized by loss and change,
and we are the people who carry it on.
We get the opportunity to build a better tomorrow because the future,
like history, is created one day at a time.
So today, celebrate, and tomorrow,
carry on in relentless pursuit of your passion.
Congratulations.
- What I have learned as an international student at the Harvard Extension School is
that community and belonging don't have to be compromised by physical distance.
When I first begun my studies,
I had no clear expectation of how I could be part of
the Harvard community experience being so far away
from campus for the greater part of my studies yet,
through virtual meetings, I had so many opportunities I never imagined possible.
I participated in psychology experiments,
and research labs, and science projects,
formed so many meaningful connections with my instructors, faculty,
and classmates, all of which made me feel that I truly belong in the Harvard community.
- Hi, everyone.
So my experience at Harvard really taught me the true value of an education.
Before all this, I treated education as
a checklist where I was really just an observer and waited for someone to teach me.
But my experience with Harvard Extension really
showed me that education is not passive, it's active.
It's not something you should expect someone to do for you,
but something you must do for yourself and want for yourself.
It ties in with my favorite quote,
"The foundation of morality is to have done once and for all with lying."
So thank you, Harvard, for helping me build
that foundation and helping me get my dream job
and also to my parents for really sacrificing everything to help get me to this point.
So thank you very much.
- Pursuing a Harvard Extension degree with a focus in
finance will forever have a lasting impression on my life.
This program has taught me,
with the necessary skills I can take it out into the world and make a positive impact.
With this  program I've grown substantially professionally and personally,
where I believe I can do anything that I set my mind to.
- Good afternoon.
I would like to begin by congratulating my fellow classmates on an amazing achievement.
As a former foster youth,
I was never expected to succeed and graduate from college.
Although it took me many years to get here,
I am proud to say I am a 2020 graduate
with an ALM in Psychology from the Harvard Extension School.
Like many of you, I was influenced by great professors and instructors.
One of those was Dr. Brian Hudson who cultivated my confidence and taught
me that I was capable of learning complex theories and to never give up.
For our own graduation,
I hope to help foster youth to recognize
their potential to reach their dreams and to never give up.
I want to thank my husband,
Jim, my daughters Kayla, Nicole,
and Katherine, and my son Noah David,
for their never ending support and encouragement.
- Hello, my name is Tamara Rockwood and I am
a Harvard Extension School ALM graduate in Creative Writing and Literature.
Curiosity is the element in life that sparks
the imagination to open a new door and see what's behind it.
My husband, Ben, myself,
and our five children live in an Island in the middle of Washington state.
From here, although I have the desire,
I do not have the ability to tend to college.
My obligations here inhibit my ability to attend traditional schools.
Thanks to Harvard Extension School's advanced approach to
maintaining a dynamic modernized vision for education,
I did not have to sacrifice my curiosity.
With my degree, I'm able to push forward in
my formerly impossible dream as a writer. Thank you.
- Hi, I'm Doug Kinsey.
I'm graduating with a Masters of Liberal Arts degree in Management.
I want to express my gratitude to the entire Harvard community for those experience.
It's truly been a remarkable and valuable journey for me.
I've met outstanding professors,
worked with gifted and motivated classmates,
and come to love the campus and its surroundings.
This work has provided me with insights and skills that I
use every day in my personal and professional life,
and it's one of the most valuable things I've ever done.
I also want to thank my family and in particular my wife Rebecca,
for supporting me throughout this effort.
Congratulations and best wishes to all of this year's graduates.
- One of the most important realization I had during my studies at
Harvard is that Western academia has the courage to criticize themselves.
I am a Muslim, I am Pakistani, I am brown,
Harvard made me trust Western academic institutions.
Despite the constant rhetoric of the clash of civilization,
my studies during Harvard made me realize
that the Western secular and liberal values are closely in line,
if not exactly, with the fundamental Islamic values. Thank you, Harvard.
- Like many Generation Xers back in the '90s,
I accepted jobs that required skills that I never learned in college
because we were inventing it all as we want.
So for me, returning to school was about filling in knowledge gaps.
What I didn't expect was how inspired I'd be by my classmates,
and how much their feedback would give me the courage to make
a career change that better aligned with my values.
My degree will certainly open doors,
but the biggest impact will be realized with a bond I
share with another class of 2020 graduate.
My son Peyton, a high school senior,
our world is now forever changed,
but with the knowledge I've gained through this program,
I'm confident that I have the skills to help me,
my organization, and my son navigate what's next.
- Hi, everyone. My name is Jim Chen,
ALM, focused in psychology.
First off, congratulations to all the graduates this year.
I wish to offer special thanks to Doctors Jon Star and Dante Spetter at Harvard.
The reason why I chose Harvard Extension School was I was looking for
a graduate distance program in psychology that
was not only rewarding but also very rigorous,
and Harvard Extension provided me with
exactly the experience and rigor I was looking for.
So thank you for that.
I think that this mode of education only will
grow in importance as we go through these current times.
So thanks again. Take care everyone, stay safe.
- One of the most important thing that I've learned from
the Harvard Extension School is that failure is also part of the road to success.
Getting my master's degree in digital media design from
Harvard Extension School will not impact just my life,
it will also be a tool to help me serve my community,
the Haitian community, Haitian communities all around the world.
I now feel equipped to do so through the film industry and
the entertainment world where I'll be able to shed a new light on my Haitian people
or to introduce my Haitian people differently to the world.
- My educational path was far from traditional.
In fact, it started in a one-room schoolhouse in the log camp on an island in Alaska.
After a long and challenging journey,
it is ending here in Cambridge at
Harvard University with a diploma from
the most prestigious learning institution in the world.
My Harvard education has given me the confidence, the credibility,
and the tools I need to be an effective leader and to have a global impact.
It has allowed me to be a representative for entrepreneurs at the United Nations,
to be a guest of the US State Department at the Hague,
Netherlands, to be a member of the board for corporations that can change the world.
Thank you, Harvard. You have made me a better and brighter version of myself.
- Harvard Extension School has taught me the importance of a global community.
The best learning tools of education,
and we see is to go through a degree while at the same time having a full-time job,
being a father, and a husband.
Harvard University has taught me to be focused on
my dream while at the same time having a true worldwide connection,
and of course, learning from the best professors in the world.
I just want to thank my family, my fellow students,
my amigos, my advisors,
and everybody who made this possible. Thank you.
- I'm Shaley Degiorgio,
and I'm receiving a master's of information management systems.
I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Harvard Extension School.
You've built a program where it's possible to learn and grow
with an international group of tenacious leaders.
Students here know that you don't need to commute or live
on campus to get an amazing education.
This experience has solidified my life's mission to help
people thrive in an increasingly technological world.
I'm proud to identify as part of the extension school because the ability to
extend beyond what's currently possible makes our community a powerful force for change.
So let's show the world what we've already known for years,
that digital revolution is here,
and Harvard University is leading the way.
- How about that?
- That was great.
- Well, graduation marks the end of one chapter in your Harvard journey,
but the beginning of another.
When your degree was conferred earlier today,
you officially became a member of the Harvard Alumni Association, HAA.
Today, we are joined by
four Harvard Extension alumni who will offer their congratulations.
First up, Seema Borthakur.
Seema is a renowned technology solutions specialist and in fact,
she's a former student of mine and a former teaching fellow.
Next, we have Ariel Gamino.
Ariel is a senior software developer and
artificial intelligence specialist based in Austin, Texas.
Third, Christine Leunens.
Christine, you may have heard of her.
She is an award winning author.
She wrote the novel Caging Skies,
which was the basis and inspiration for the movie Jojo Rabbit.
That movie won an academy award for best adapted screenplay earlier this year.
I'm happy to say I enjoyed that movie thoroughly on
a flight back from Japan to Boston in late February.
I was in Japan attending a Harvard extended event,
both in Singapore and in Tokyo.
Accompanying me on that journey is
the fourth person I'm going to introduce to all of you right now,
and that is Michael Fabiano,
ALM Class of 2016.
Michael is the president of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association,
and he's also vice president of America's media
at the Associated Press. Take it away, Michael.
- Hi, I'm Michael Fabiano,
President of the Harvard Extension School Alumni Association.
Today, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate the Class of 2020.
Well done. You made it.
On behalf of all alumni around the world,
I welcome you to the Harvard global alumni community of over 371,000 individuals.
Today is about effort and achievement.
Each of you has bravely chased this goal and succeeded.
Colin Powell perhaps said it best,
"A dream doesn't become a reality through magic.
It takes sweat, determination, and hard work."
My own experience was transformative.
Working full time, attending classes,
meeting family obligations, balancing all of
these takes enormous intellectual drive and self-discipline.
We are not the same people on the other side.
I have met thousands of alumni traveling to
various Harvard alumni events around the world.
The characteristics are very common.
I see a passionate group of global leaders and change-makers.
The Harvard experience imbues upon us the desire to make a difference.
Our world is very complex today.
I encourage all of you to think about what Harvard stands for and be global citizens,
making a point to improve our public discourse and all of your interactions.
Our dynamic Global Alumni Community is thrilled to welcome you.
Be fearless, have no regrets, and don't stand still.
My best to you and your families on this wonderful day of celebration.
Congratulations again and welcome to the Harvard Alumni Association.
- Class of Harvard Extension School 2020, congratulations.
My name is Seema, and I am the Co-Chair of the San Francisco,
California Chapter of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association.
One valuable thing you have earned,
in addition to your certificate or degree,
are the relationships you've made here.
My first touch point with the Harvard Extension School in
the year 2000 was an introductory Computer Science Course taught by Dr. Henry Leitner.
My first day of class was a life-changing trajectory which resulted in
decades of enrichment and inspiring connections with teachers and mentors,
driven students, and wonderful staff and faculty.
To this day, I continue to meet passionate leaders like Joe Felicio and her team at
the Office of Advancement who inspire and support volunteers with the Alumni Association.
Reunions are just exciting and so much fun.
My relationships with my Harvard Family continue to deepen in so many colorful way.
Class of 2020, this is a moment that is a treasured start.
Pursue and nurture these relationships that you've made
here like you loyally pursued your study because
these relationships are life-changing and they will continue to
build your confidence and leadership skills just like they have for me.
- Congratulations, class of 2020 and a warm welcome from Austin, Texas.
I am a member of the HEAA Board and founder or the Midwest and Texas Chapters.
The HEAA is a strong organization
with chapters all over the United States and so in Europe,
Asia, and Latin America.
You graduate at a pivotal moment in
human history and the value of connecting could not be more important.
I encourage you to seek out Harvard clubs and HEAA chapters in
your area and join an interest group in your passion or your industry.
There are many ways to participate,
contribute, and become an integral part of our community.
The friendships and connections you make will last a lifetime.
Harvard is one big supportive family,
and today you become a member of am outstanding group.
The Alumni Association is here to help you connect,
to serve you, and to celebrate your successes.
Congratulations and I hope to see at one of our events.
- Heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2020
and a very warm welcome to you all for my lockdown bubble in New Zealand.
Doing a Masters in English and American literature and language at
Harvard Extension School allowed me to write
the book cited and research them confidently.
In 1998, I took Professor Kugel's class in American Jewish literature,
which was instrumental to being able to later write Caging Skies.
Without it, I don't think there'll be the book nor the film of it today.
In 2003, Dean Schnigel's graduate seminar was life-changing,
both in writing fiction and in real life.
Sometimes people ask me what I write with,
a pencil, a laptop?
The truth is, Dean Schnigel didn't teach me how to sharpen
my pencil but rather how to sharpen my minds and critical thinking.
As to the laptop, I walked into Widner Library in 1998,
saw these computers, and asked the librarian if
she could please tell me where the card catalogs were.
"In the archives in the basement." she replied.
So I owe becoming digitally literate to the Extension School as well.
When I was sitting at the Oscar ceremonies in
February and they put Caging Skies up on the screen and said my name,
the memories came back of those terms in Cambridge with my husband, Toddler,
and baby, my mother coming up to help,
all who had had faith in me, all who taught me.
It was overwhelming.
If I have one message for the class of 2020,
it's to go out and chase your dreams.
Dreams aren't necessarily distant and evasive as you might think,
but made out of a slow,
cumulative reality that you have already been building within and around you.
I think I can safely say that each of you gave up many things to be here today.
Each of you worked extraordinarily hard despite other responsibilities and pressures.
This was one of your dreams,
like it was one of mine.
No one in the class of 2020 needs a butterfly net to chase their dreams.
Having learned all that was necessary to graduate today,
I can assure you that the best tool is you.
- Now, Henry, I'm sure you do this when you do
the diploma roaring ceremonies where you ask the graduates to stand up
and face the audience and for them to start
clapping and congratulating the people
in the audience for all that they've done for them.
- That's like my favorite part.
- I know, me too. I love it.
- That's why you've got to do it.
- Yeah, I love it.
So we usually say,
"Everyone rise and congratulate your friends and family."
There's an uproar of applause and it's wonderful.
But we can still do this.
No one does this alone.
You leaned on your friends and your family to get you through your academic journey.
Now, we can't turn and applaud them in public,
but please take a moment now to send a note of thanks via social media
using the hashtag on the screen while we listen
to a few words of thanks from your fellow graduates.
- This has truly been an amazing,
life-changing experience for me.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported me along the way.
My parents, John and Terry,
and John and Kathy,
my children, Courtney and Scott,
and most importantly, Kerry,
my wife, my champion,
and my never ending cheerleader who always believes in
me no matter how far fetched my ideas are.
- I want to say thank you to Abehi who's been
an extremely supportive and helpful partner throughout this process.
To Julia, Lean, Esato,
and Steven, and the rest of my family.
I appreciate your support.
- I want to say thank you to my husband for supporting me unconditionally,
to my family and friends for believing in me,
and to my brothers and sisters in arms.
Your courage has inspired me to be all that I can be,
and today that means I graduate from Harvard.
- My Harvard journey could not have been possible
without the help and encouragement of the women in my life.
Thank you to my Aya for raising you to be bold and resilient woman.
Thank you to my umma for teaching me how to sacrifice and be patient.
Thank you to my [inaudible] for always giving
me challenge, and a very sincere thank you to
every single beautiful person that helped me build
a path towards our sustainable future. Thank you.
- Thank you to all of my professors and classmates at
Harvard who taught me and inspired me over the past five years.
- Hello, everyone.
I would like to take a moment to thank my wife,
Crystal, my three kids is,
Mez and Havvy and Timmy.
Of course, without them,
I couldn't have got through all the late night studying and got through this,
all my family, friends, my parents, everybody.
Thank you all. Of course,
the great faculty and staff I encountered while at the Extension school. Thank you all.
- I'd like to thank my husband, Jeff,
for all of his love and support and for
taking extra shifts with our girls as I was working.
My parents, Larry and Sheryl for coming out for
two summers to Boston to help as I took classes and for always encouraging me.
To my little girls, Rosie and Norah,
for being so patient with mommy as I was working on my thesis and my thesis director,
Dr. Carroll and gardener Thomas,
for all of your help and support.
I couldn't have done this without any of you.
- Hi.
I want to thank my family for your support with this journey.
I also want to thank Harvard and its faculty for making this dream come true.
I proved to myself that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.
- Thank you for your support to my precious wife, Binish,
my son, Foruz, my daughter, Sonya.
I could not have done this without the support of my father and my mother.
Finally, thank you for your best wishes, thoughts,
and prayers to my brother and his family,
my in-laws in England and my brother-in-laws and their families.
I love all of you.
A special thank you to the Harvard Extension School for this opportunity.
May God bless all of you. Thank you.
- Thank you to my husband, Brian, my mother,
and my three children for supporting me in my journey through Harvard.
Thank you.
- My name is Sally Tirabassi and I would like to say thank you to
my children for all of their support and always letting me know how proud they are of me
and to my grandchildren for being a constant source of inspiration for the future for me.
A special shout out to Luca,
my nine-year old grandson.
We visited campus many times over the years,
the libraries, the coop, the classrooms.
Hopefully, Luca we'll be able to do that again soon someday.
You never know, maybe someday you'll be a student there and I can come visit you.
Congratulations, everybody. Thank you.
- I'd like to thank my parents, Shakha Habib and Shamim Khan, for
instilling the value of education and supporting all my endeavors.
My wife, Shamaia, for her patience and support during my time at Harvard.
Without you, this milestone would not be possible.
Finally, my brothers and sisters and my children,
Solomon, Issa, Sammer, and Noah.
It is my dream that all your dreams come true. Thank you.
- Hello. My name is Teresa Nehra.
I'm 54 years old,
legally blind and live in Brussels, Belgium.
Today's graduation is the realization of a long-held dream.
I'd like to thank my husband, John,
for finding the Harvard Extension School's ALM psychology program.
When I read about the online option and accessibility services,
I realized that I could do this, and now I have.
I'd also like to thank family, friends, classmates,
and Harvard faculty for understanding
my vision challenges and providing assistance when needed.
- Hi to all.
My journey at Harvard Extension began after studying
Chinese history and listening to Professor Bol sing the Chinese dynasties and order,
Shang, Zou Qin Han Sui Tang Song,
Yuang Ming Qing Republic Mao Zedong.
I'm very proud to be a 2020 ALM graduate
after learning from inspiring teachers and amazing students.
So thank you, Harvard, for promoting Extension Studies,
and cheers to all.
- I want to thank my husband, Rich.
You were the blessing that I never thought I
would get and that I never thought I deserved.
I want to thank you for believing in me, even
when I didn't believe in myself for knowing that I could do this.
For your financial support,
for giving me the entire semester off so I could finish my capstone,
it means the world to me.
I promised that after this,
I will start making money with my degree to pay you back. I love you.
You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Thank you.
- Well, Suzanne.
- We did it?
- Yeah, I've finish your sentences. Yes.
- Yeah, okay.
- This will bring us now to the conclusion
of the 2020 Harvard Extension School graduation celebration.
A real first of its kind.
A truly historic moment.
- Indeed.
- Suzanne and I both want to thank
you for allowing us to share this momentous occasion with you.
We really look forward to seeing you,
to seeing all of you when it's safe to celebrate commencement here on the Harvard campus.
But until that day,
please celebrate with your family and continue
to strive for excellence and above all, be well.
