Excerpts from 2025 Student Speaker, Angelina Lucia Rubino

Standing at the Threshold of Change

We’ve made it. We’ve made it through the chaos, the caffeine, the deadlines – and somehow, we’re still standing.

But this moment is more than a finish line. Today, we stand at the threshold of change – between what has been and what is yet to come. This moment is more than a celebration of the degrees we’ve earned; it’s a recognition of the transformation we’ve undergone.

We’ve become clinicians, educators, business leaders—carrying not just knowledge, but the responsibility to use it with wisdom and heart.

As graduates of business and management, clinical psychology and education, we’ve chosen paths rooted in service. Whether we’re guiding minds, building systems, or inspiring students, we are united by the belief that change is possible. That becoming is a conscious act. And that healing is real.

Before we arrived here today, there were the long nights, the quiet doubts, and the moments that tested our resolve. For me, this journey was unexpected and deeply personal—but through it, I met a version of myself I never knew I needed to meet. That moment of recognition became my turning point – and in it, I found clarity, courage, and the beginning of something new.

Similarly, you have paved your way, on your own terms. Many of you may have faced your own versions of this journey—navigating uncertainty, letting go of old expectations, and finding strength in places you didn’t know you had.

That path – unique to each of us – is what brought us here, and what will carry us forward.

We’ve learned more than theory—we’ve learned resilience, collaboration, and the quiet power of showing up. The world doesn’t need perfection. It needs people who care, who question, who try.

And now, we enter a world deeply in need of what we carry – where mental health care remains a battleground, where businesses must balance profit with purpose, and where education is shaped by inequity and shifting policies.

This isn’t just about starting our careers. It’s about stepping into responsibility: to advocate, to innovate, to lead with integrity.

To my fellow graduates – this is not the end. It’s an invitation. So let’s move forward with the belief that the work we do matters – because it does. And that is worth celebrating.

Congratulations Class of 2025. Thank you.