On May 14 over 350 students took the stage at the Blaisdell Arena for Chaminade University’s 2018 Spring Commencement. President Dr. Lynn Babington summed up the event for the graduates during her commencement speech, “Today is one of the high points in your education and in our academic year. We come together as a community to celebrate your achievements, your dedication and your growth.” The evening event was a chance for students to celebrate their latest achievement with family, friends, and faculty.
The evening was not only a celebration of an achieved dream, an accomplished goal, for the Class of 2018; it was a celebration of great things to come. No matter the student’s age, degree, or future aspirations, graduating from Chaminade is just the beginning for these students. As the undergraduate speaker, Joseph Keahi Carrero, said in his speech that evening, “the foundations we received through our studies at Chaminade is the bedrock from which we will launch.” Carerro went on to challenge his fellow classmates to dream big in the years to come. “My challenge for us is this – to dream on, to dream bigger better dreams. Dream the impossible. Then make it happen.”
Graduate speaker Christina A. Soo Hoo continued the inspirational theme of the evening while sharing her personal journey to obtaining her master’s degree. She spoke on how paralyzing fear can be and the importance of pushing through no matter what. “We become paralyzed by fear because we don’t believe in ourselves. We fear heartbreak, love, loss, and disappointments because we see them as punishments for not being good enough or smart enough.” Soo Hoo reminded her fellow classmates, “We are powerful if we allow ourselves to be.”
This year’s graduating class, consisted of over 450 students from 28 different states. Seventy-eight of those graduating were first generation college students. Kathryn Matayoshi, senior vice president of account relationship management at HMSA, was this year’s keynote speaker.
Congratulations, 2018 graduates!
