Hello Leos – Class of 2021!
It is truly an honor for me to join you on your graduation from the University of La Verne!
I remember my college graduation as one of the most gratifying and uplifting days of my life – a day of celebration and accomplishment.
Thank you, President Devorah Lieberman for inviting me here today. I appreciate your leadership and continuous commitment to advancing opportunity for your students and alumni.
I’d also like to recognize Dean Ibrahim Helou, who is celebrating his last commencement as dean of the College of Business and Public Management.
Dean Helou has been a vital part of the university since 1993, and I know that his hands-on, student-focused leadership will be sorely missed … but I’m glad to hear that he’s going back to the classroom, where students will continue to benefit from his guidance.
To you, the graduates … and to the friends and family that have supported you on your journey … cheering you on … helping you and motivating you to persevere and earn your degree … Congratulations.
Congratulations to you all!
Today marks a great accomplishment – cherish it and hold it close as a reminder of what you can do when you dream big.
While the word commencement is used to describe a day that’s an ending, a graduation, a culmination of your educational career…. the actual definition of commencement is a beginning, a start.
And today is a new beginning, it is a start.
All the hard-earned steps forward – they all led here, to this launch into your future.
The world is yours. The possibilities are endless.
Your ULV education gives you the skills and expertise you need to follow your chosen path – and the resilience to get back on track when the inevitable steps backward or sideways happen.
Like many of you, I grew up in Southern California.
My father launched my family’s small business when I was a baby … right there on Whittier Blvd in East LA.
He later expanded to locations in Montebello, Maywood, Lynwood and Huntington Park … not too far from La Verne.
As I grew up, I loved tagging along with him to work. I eventually started working alongside him –after school and on the weekends.
I learned valuable lessons along the way that I carry with me today.
I learned the entrepreneurial mindset – the ability to be agile and learn continuously … the willingness to refine the path … adapt and sometimes reimagine your dream to deal with ever-changing realities around you.
The all-in approach to working hard and persevering … regardless of setbacks.
These lessons are replicated in millions of small businesses across the country, and it’s these same lessons that got so many through the COVID pandemic.
Families pivoted and adapted to new realities of remote work and school.
Businesses pivoted and adapted to shifting revenue models.
Communities and institutions changed strategies to support new realities.
That resilience is so valuable - along whatever path you choose to take.
Those core skills combined with confidence – the unwavering belief in yourself –will get you far. And the fact that you are here today, newly-crowned ULV graduates, should infuse you with all the confidence and reassurance you need …because after what you just accomplished, you are unstoppable.
Remember that this degree is a distinction that you share with just over one-third of the U.S. population.
Many of you have gotten here over great odds.
That’s a lifetime badge of honor and your gift from ULV.
Confidence is critical to the pursuit of your dreams.
I remember when my confidence was tested. I graduated from a local public high school. I’ll never forget the day my college counselor told me I didn’t have a chance of getting accepted by my top choice. He told me to settle for a different option instead.
But my confidence … my belief in myself … pushed me to work harder and prove him wrong.
I was accepted by my top choice. And that college counselor? I became his most frequent lunch date … he had to come with me to all those local rotary clubs and chambers of commerce to accept the scholarships I won.
The lesson I learned then was that the word No was inconsequential. What I believed about myself was the only thing that mattered. And that belief has stayed with me throughout my life -- allowing me to keep learning, adapting, refining, and reimagining.
I set out to prove assumptions about me wrong and blast the obstacles they created out of my path.
And I know that tenacity is why I’m where I am today, and how I earned the incredible honor of serving as the voice for America’s 30 million small businesses and innovative startups … and as the first Latina in President Biden’s Cabinet.
I know you have that tenacity in you. That’s what got you here. And I’m so excited at the possibilities that exist for us a nation … with all of you ready to sprint across 3rd Street and out into the world.
Whether your path forward is as an entrepreneur, scientist, teacher or lawyer, I know you each will leave an indelible mark on this world.
Know that along that journey, you are not alone. Find and connect to the people that believe in you and access the resources available to support you – seek out programs, ask for help.
I know firsthand that help is out there - I lead a federal agency with more than a trillion-dollar lending portfolio … that exists to support small businesses through recovery and growth, startup and scale.
Many of the people who believe in you are right here in this incredible ULV community.
One day you’ll return the favor.
There is no greater measure of success than service to others.
Because it’s not enough to achieve for yourself alone. Your community, your city, your state, your country – are only as strong as you make them.
Hopefully, one day you will follow the path of public or community service – either as your career or through another part of your life.
There’s a future Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration out there -- to help nurture and harness small businesses, our nation’s most powerful economic force. I know it could be any of you!
Today, we celebrate your story. Tomorrow, we support you and cheer you on as you commence – your path forward.
So, go out there and seize the future you’ve been imagining since you first stepped onto a ULV campus.
That future is now yours.