A Glimpse of Graduation

Our lives have been in a state of continual flux since our Freshman Convocation – probably the last time all of us were together as a class. We began our careers at The University of Texas at Dallas confident that our experiences would stretch us, but somewhat uncertain about our future paths. We didn’t know yet how much we didn’t know. We were invincible then, and people kept telling us how smart we were.

We’re still smart, and thanks to the commitment of our professors, now we have also been trained to think deeply. The university community as a whole has helped us in our pursuit of knowledge, encouraged our intellectual inquiries, and inspired us to learn something more fundamental than the bonding habits of electrons or the theory behind Fourier transforms. We have been given the map and set on the path to wisdom.

A great deal of what I have learned has been due to the extraordinarily nurturing environment at UT Dallas. Here, we are encouraged to create, to innovate, and to lead at the borders between traditional disciplines. Here, we are full partners in our success, and our success is inextricably linked to the success of the University.

There have been disappointments along the way – and triumphs. And through the good and the bad, we have changed. We have been molded. Now we graduate with a strong sense of identity and conviction of purpose for our roles in the world – a world we will shape as servant leaders.

As we have developed, so too has The University of Texas at Dallas. We were freshmen with our president, Dr. Daniel, the architect of our strategic plan to attain status as a Tier One University. $250 million in capital projects are under way. UT Dallas celebrates its 40th birthday this coming year. An air of creative excitement and intellectual innovation permeates campus. And this is our University.

We have brought UT Dallas national and international recognition through our accomplishments as researchers, as student leaders in our various fields, and, of course, as chess and basketball players. We have helped the University through SACS reaccreditation and a Quality Enhancement Plan, seen the addition of a Spirit Rock, fight song and mural, and added a Women’s Leadership Conference, a nanotechnology minor and access to public transportation for all students. We have done a tremendous amount for the University in an effort to give back for all the opportunities we have received.

So here we are, ready to receive our degrees from The University of Texas at Dallas – degrees we have worked hard to earn, degrees we have worked tirelessly to enrich, and degrees that represent understanding of much more than an academic subject.

A great deal of what I have learned has been due to the extraordinarily nurturing environment at UT Dallas. Here, we are encouraged to create, to innovate, and to lead at the borders between traditional disciplines. Here, we are full partners in our success, and our success is inextricably linked to the success of the University. For the rest of our lives, we are alumni of UT Dallas, and our actions and the actions of our peers can enhance the value of our degrees just as our contributions while we have been here already have. I urge you to take this responsibility upon yourselves. We’re in this together.

On a much broader scale, though, we can indeed be the change we wish to see in the world. To paraphrase Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we need to do our own little bits of good wherever we are so that humanity’s collective bits of good can overwhelm the world. I believe we find happiness by helping other people and fulfilling a greater purpose. Our actions can accomplish a greater good.

I also believe that happiness is deeply relational. We matter partly because we matter to other people, whose lives are richer because of us, and who greatly enrich our lives. We have made friends at UT Dallas who have become family. They have buoyed us up through exams and break-ups and the flu; They have celebrated with us our engagements and our graduate school admissions and myriad other triumphs.

I believe that we, as humans, seek happiness. I believe we find it by transcending our selfish inclinations and sacrificing of ourselves, whether for a friend or for the collection of strangers who comprise our global community. Happiness is easing another’s pain and sharing in someone else’s delight. We are happiest when we are bound together as humans, helping our fellows so that we can diminish our burdens and magnify our joys.

Congratulations, graduates. I wish you true happiness! Whoosh!

Felicity Lenes graduated summa cum laude with a degree in molecular biology from the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

While at the University, she was a McDermott Scholar and a member of the Collegium V Honors Program and the Golden Key International Honor Society.

Lenes served as a Student Ambassador and vice president of the student body, and was a first-year leader and a member of the University Chorale. She also was elected Student Leader of the Year, served as an Undergraduate Research Fellow and received the Joseph Wood Award as the top medical school applicant in her class. In addition, she was a finalist for three prestigious academic scholarships: the Truman, the Marshall, and the Rhodes.

Away from UT Dallas, she worked on a water quality program in China, administered vaccines in Sudan and volunteered at an orphanage in Romania.

Lenes will begin medical school at Yale University this fall.