A Glimpse of Graduation

Profile Photo of Daniella Poole When I woke up today, two thoughts hit me. One was that I could breathe a sigh of relief because (deep breath) … it is all over. The second thought, which quickly followed, was, “What in the world am I going to do now?” Many of you may have been dreading having to come face to face with what most people like to call “the real world.” I have been both hoping and praying that the time will never get here, and at the same thinking that it cannot come fast enough. After all we have been through in the past four years, it can be especially daunting to think about having to start something completely new. I have a hard time imagining what to do with myself now that the pressure is gone: All the papers are turned in. I never thought I would miss always carrying that extra blue book to class on exam day.

Today, I want to talk to you about one of my favorite subjects—passion. I hope it is a subject that you all enjoy as well. Well—you might ask—what does passion have to do with graduation? I would submit to you that passion is everything. Passion is what has brought us here today and to this new stage of our lives. Passion is the driving force behind human beings. I imagine it is definitely the driving force behind most college students. I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been chasing love and success passionately for the past four years. Though college degrees are becoming more and more common every day, I can’t help looking at all of us here and being proud of what we have been driven to accomplish, because it is a major accomplishment in each of our lives. Today we have achieved something that can never be taken away from us. Passion of some kind or another got us here, and I hope that you will continue to let it drive you in the future.

I can’t help looking at all of us here and being proud of what we have been driven to accomplish, because it is a major accomplishment in each of our lives. Today we have achieved something that can never be taken away from us. Passion of some kind or another got us here, and I hope that you will continue to let it drive you in the future.

In his book Love in the Western World, Denis de Rougemont explains that passion by itself can only function as a driving force, and once the goal is obtained, be it in life or love, that passion begins to fade. He explains that passion and suffering go hand in hand, and this passionate suffering is what pushes us to strive for bigger and better things. After spending four years or longer here, I would imagine that we all know a little something about passionate suffering. The reason I am talking about this today is because I believe that what is important to take away with us today is the passion and the drive that kept us going while we were students here. If we ever let passion fade from our lives, nothing but stagnation awaits us.

I grew up near the slums in Brazil, one of 15 children in a family that did not have the income to support even one. Needless to say, I was never judged as the “most likely to succeed.” Nevertheless, here I stand. I left my home, my family and my whole known world to pursue a dream that I felt was waiting for me here. I have pushed myself—often to the limits of my sanity—and today I can finally feel that it has all been worth it. Whenever I have felt that it was just too much to bear, or found myself losing that drive to finish the race, I have been able to think back to where I came from and re-examine my reasons for choosing to fight as hard as I did for what I wanted. From that hardship, I derived the power to continue fighting for my goals. Many of you may have had a harder, or much easier, life than I have, but—and I don’t care who you are—you have struggled and fought in some way, or you wouldn’t be here today. Nobody is giving you this degree; you have earned it, and that is something to be passionate about.

When we walk out that door today, a whole new world is awaiting us. In that world, great as it might be, we will certainly encounter hardships and suffering. My advice to you would be always to find something to be passionate about, and harness that passion, letting it drive you on to bigger and better things. Always enjoy the fruits that passion brings you, and when you encounter those inevitable moments of suffering, use it and let it make you stronger. Don’t let anything stop you. In my own life, I had no choice—I promoted the passion that drove me, I reveled in it, and I allowed it to strengthen me because I firmly believed that once I had proved to everyone that I was made out of something strong enough to reach my own goals, nothing would ever be able to stop me again. I fought like crazy, but today I have achieved all I could have ever dared hope for. When I think of what I have accomplished, and what the many of you in here that I recognize today have accomplished in your own lives, I cannot wait to get out into the “real world” and participate in the unleashing of the preliminary genius of thought that the faculty here have both helped us to realize and rolled their respective eyes at—I know they have at least done both with regard to me.

You arts and humanities students here today have chosen to put yourselves in the company of Homer and Goethe, Rousseau and Frederick Jackson Turner, Beethoven and Picasso. You computer science and engineering majors have stuck it out longer and completed a valuable education, which is farther than Bill Gates ever got. In this kind of company, though, we sure are going to have a lot to prove, and we are going to need all the drive and passion that we can muster to do it. I hope that when you go out of here today, you think of that degree in your hands as a symbol of what you have accomplished and as a reminder of what you are still going to prove—to everyone. Let’s not forget the passion that brought us here today. Let’s not forget how hard we have fought to be able to walk through here today. We are the next generation, we are the future and we are going to be great—just look at us—we’re already on our way. So hug your family, thank your professors and where ever you go next, show everyone that you have the guts and the passionate drive to have something to prove. Today is just the first day of the rest of our success!

Daniella Poole graduated magna cum laude with a degree in literary studies from the School of Arts and Humanities.

She has been a frequent member of the dean’s honor list, was an academic excellence scholarship award winner, a fundraising chair of Golden Key Honor Society, a member of the first-ever all woman’s chess team that represented UT Dallas at the Pan-American Championship, and an undergraduate teaching assistant. Last fall, she studied at the Zeppelin University in Germany.

Following graduation, Poole will begin officer candidate training in the U.S. Army, where she is planning a career as a linguist.