Berkeley is quite simply an astonishing arrangement of graduates, undergraduate students, faculty
Many of us here come from diverse backgrounds. I'm a Latino,
I'm a first-generation scholar in the English department.
We were the first in our entire community, my brothers and I, to go to college
And it was important that our parents both sacrificed for and constantly encouraged us to do well in school.
I've never forgotten that. It resounds in all of my relationships with students.
I know how difficult it can be for first-generation students to feel at home in a large, complex university like this
There's a sense of worry or concern about that and I simply want to invite you to join us here
There are many first-generation people. You will find friendship across different groups of students,
and all of you together will be tested and encouraged and pushed to be intellectually excellent.
And that's what you will carry with you into the world.
