Salt Lake Community College student Glory Shekinah Stanton penned a few thoughts this week for graduates and high-achieiving students who took part in the Pride In Academics event, sponsored by the Office for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. With her permission, Ms. Standton's words to her speech "We Made It" have been reprinted below.
Glory Shekinah Stanton
By Glory Shekinah Stanton
“We made it!”
In spite of what the world said
about us, we made it.
In the society we grew up in,
they waited patiently for the battle to be over and for failure to win.
Many often doubt, if you were
worth the government Pell grants and loans that you had to cash out, but
regardless of that…we made it.
There are so many struggles to
overcome on this journey all in the name of education.
The constant second guessing of
self, are you doing the right thing for you, or just to say you’ve stashed some
money away in a checking’s or a savings?
You have a duty when you make it,
to the community from which you came
You have to help those younger
than you find their path and make it just the same
Remember along this journey
you’ll constantly be doubted
People will try to destroy you,
your mind plays tricks, or you might just find that your whole life’s path
suddenly gets rerouted
There are barriers you’ve never
imagined, standing in your way.
Sometimes each day seems like a
struggle, and you may have thought of quitting and walking away
But to quit is not in our nature,
we all come from a strong people
We were bred to endure, conquer,
defeat, to be champions, and to do away with the world’s evil
You see whether you wanted it or
not, you have a responsibility
To make the thought of freedom
real and to teach the world humanity
I charge you to be the best, not
just simply by coming to classes and passing tests
But be in best out in society,
set an example, raise the bar, make justice just, and peace for real
Discover a cure, invent something
new, write a good book, or simply see your dreams all the way through.
This is a celebration of the
accomplishments you’ve made thus far.
My last words of advice, “Let
your mind be the logic, your heart be the compassion, and when in doubt just
remember who you are.”
We made it, we made it, we’ve
made it…
Now let’s show the world what we
can do with it.
Congratulations to all of the
recipients of Pride and Academics
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