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This is a celebration of where you've come...
I knew from the moment I stepped
on campus this is where I had to be.
Where you are on your journey...
Grand Valley just had a lot of opportunities
for me to excel and to develop
as an individual.
And the promise of the gifts you will share
with the world.
It was a journey that began with a trip
under the Grand Valley arch
and into an ever-expanding intellectual
and social world.
I chose Grand Valley
because of the small class sizes,
the personal relationships
that I could create.
Raymond Yeow chose the Honors College
at Grand Valley for that feeling of community
but also to prepare him for the challenges
of medical school.
I think the rigorous coursework definitely has
helped me prioritize my time in order
to be successful.
Yeow has already been successful
at Grand Valley - he took advantage
of the challenging academic programs,
the leadership opportunities,
and service projects
like Alternative Spring Break.
My true passion is helping people
who are underserved,
helping people who don't have the
opportunities or the resources
to help themselves.
He's been accepted into medical school,
and he's well on his way
to fulfilling his desire
to be a healer and a helper.
Service is a common theme with many
of Grand Valley's graduates.
Getting involved
on campus was a game-changer for me.
Natalie Cleary is a political science major
who began her campus involvement by working
for the Office of Student Life.
The Grand Valley mentors I have totally
changed my life.
I was so lucky and so fortunate
to have a great boss.
And she helped me get involved
and really made me feel comfortable
in a new environment.
Cleary became more than comfortable;
she became a passionate leader.
After serving on the Student Senate
for three years,
she was elected president her senior year.
(Grand Valley really will support you
in your academic endeavors) She was selected
for an honor society
and the Cook Leadership Academy
and recently won the prestigious Kenneth R.
Venderbush Student Leadership Award given
to a senior who has made a significant
leadership contribution to student life.
(It is a great day
to be a Laker) Cleary was recently accepted
for a position with Teach for America -
a competitive program
that places recent graduates and professionals
for two years in underserved school districts.
I look back at who I was when I got here,
and it's just a totally different person
than who I am now.
I'm so much more confident;
I'm so much more experienced.
I'm just so excited to be able to leave here
with the skills that I've learned.
We are discovering all kinds of things...
There's no limit
to what Grand Valley graduates will discover.
(We're walking along the rim
of meteor crater) James Ashley earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in Geology
from Grand Valley in 1987.
He holds a doctoral degree
in planetary remote sensing geophysics.
He has shared some discoveries
with a national audience
on the Discovery Channel, and currently works
at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
Science Operations Center
for Arizona State University.
One of his focuses is meteorites found
on Mars.
So there are subtle processes
on the Martian surface that have to do
with the behavior of water
that meteorites allow us to address
in a way indigenous Mars rocks don't.
For his noted work in the scientific world,
Ashley is the Alumni Association's choice
for Distinguished Alumnus.
Before he was looking into the sky,
Ashley was looking
into the ravines in Allendale.
The ravines that you have out here,
extraordinary examples of glacial geology.
Access to personnel
and facilities is an important part
of preparation work.
That's what Grand Valley offered...a lot
of access to highly-trained professors
and they were very willing
to share their expertise.
And I've been to some other places
since I've been to Grand Valley,
and I'm still waiting to see a program
that surpasses what has happened here.
What happens here
at Grand Valley is remarkable teaching
and learning.
Star Swift is an associate professor
of management in the Seidman College
of Business.
She is the Alumni Association's choice
for Outstanding Educator.
It's a real privilege to teach
at Grand Valley.
Swift is a lawyer with a master's degree
in labor and industrial relations.
She came to Grand Valley in 1992
to teach part time while serving as chair
of the Michigan Employment
Relations Commission.
Slowly I began to fall in love with teaching.
And I saw that how much you got out of it,
how much you learned, about not only yourself
but about the law.
And the students help you do
that because they're questioning.
And so you have to be one step ahead of them,
and any professor will you that's no easy job.
But if you like it,
you eventually learn to love it.
When I'm in the classroom, I think,
"Could you have more fun than this?"
I think that the place becomes very special
for you, especially
because of the people that you meet.
Basia Zaloga is studying at Grand Valley
as part of the STAIR Project.
A student exchange dual-degree program.
She will receive a bachelor's degree
in International Relations from Grand Valley
and then return to her native Poland
to finish a degree
at the Cracow University of Economics.
In Poland, we are more focused on theory,
whereas here I had a lot of classes
about what is actually going
on in the world right now.
Zaloga had the world brought to her
through other international students
on campus...
and her world broadened by the faculty here.
I understand what the students
in America go through,
and how they are prepared
to enter the job market,
so it gives me a better understanding.
Better understanding --
one of the goals of education.
Another one?
Fulfilling dreams:
Maybe someday I'll have a chance to come back
to the U.S. for a master's degree program.
Maybe. If you have a strong passion,
don't let it go.
Hang onto it.
Find a way to make it work.
Be smart about it as you follow your bliss,
but don't give up.
I feel so prepared and so fortunate
to have had the experiences I've had here
at Grand Valley,
and I can't wait to bring that with me.
It's been a great ride, great experience,
and I'm definitely proud to be a Laker.
Congratulations!
You made it!