Nearly 200 students took part in the campus’s Fall Commencement exercise Sunday at the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation and Wellness Center as friends and family cheered them on.
Jessica Anderson ’10 served as the commencement speaker, continuing the tradition of having alumni speak at fall commencement. Shavone Charles ’12 and David Do ’09 were the speakers at the previous two fall commencement ceremonies.
Anderson encouraged students to discover what they are passionate about and to take their pioneering spirit with them as they enter the workforce.
“I hope they have found what their passion is, or are on the path to finding it, so they can find things that are exciting for them to do every day,” Anderson said after the ceremony. “That’s why we go to school and get these degrees, to find something that, yes, you can make money off of, but something that is enjoyable and that they are proud to do.”
This was interim Chancellor Nathan Brostrom’s first commencement while at the helm at UC Merced.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be a part of this university, and it is because of students like you,” Brostrom said to the graduates. “Many of you arrived here with doubts to overcome, personal or financial challenges that drained your time and energy and competing priorities in your lives. But you did not lose faith in your abilities, or the belief that you had something extremely important to accomplish. And you did.”
