Karyne Kim Nguyễn

Thank you, Dean Pirkul, Vice Dean Jacob, Associate Dean Powell and the Jindal School faculty who are here celebrating with us.

Hello everyone, I’m Karyne Kim Nguyễn. Raise your hand if you’ve heard of a TED Talk. If you haven’t heard of it, it is basically an inspirational speech that is given at a conference. I’ve always wanted to do a TED Talk, so I consider today a really big practice — no pressure! I’m just so thankful to be here with you all, and I want to thank The University of Texas at Dallas for this opportunity to speak with you. 

Class of 2023 — whether you are completing your undergraduate degree or “mastered it” to complete your graduate degree — each of our paths brought us here to celebrate this momentous day. Today, we are united by our heart and drive to invest in our futures and use what we have learned at UT Dallas to make a difference in the world. 

One of my philosophies is that we all have a story and life experiences that impact how we walk through the world. Today, I would love to share my story and lessons that I hope you can carry on. 

My story starts with my parents. I am the proud daughter of Nhan and Danh Nguyễn (also known as Jay and Jane) who emigrated from Vietnam as refugees, following the Vietnam War. Here in Texas, they created a family and sought their version of the American dream. My dad attended college, landing at companies right here in Richardson. My mom first waited tables before joining a company where she worked for over 25 years. It was as an adult and young professional trying to find my voice that I came to truly understand my parents’ selflessness and perseverance and how it defined my perspective. Today, I am so proud to be my parents’ daughter, a Vietnamese American first-generation graduate, and I will seek to carry on their legacy of hard work and learning. So much of my parents’ story is part of my own story — one that I am still writing today.

I invite you to pause and think about your story. Perhaps you are the first in your family to graduate college, or this is the first time you are living on your own. You may have transferred or returned to school after a number of years. Some of us stayed close to home, while others moved from another city, state, country or continent to attend UT Dallas. Whichever path you have taken, today marks the beginning of an important chapter.

From here, each of our stories will continue to be written. During my time as a diversity, equity and inclusion leader, I have gained insights into working with people, and I hope you can bring with you these three lessons to make a greater difference in the world. 

1. Be true to yourself. As you go on to other endeavors, you may find it easy to compare yourself or change to meet others’ expectations. Remember, there is only one you — take time to discover who you are and always hold a solid set of core values.
2. Give back and invest in others. Reflect on your journey and remember the moments where someone helped you, gave you a chance or believed in you when you didn’t believe in yourself. I encourage you to do the same for other people — take time to invest in future generations in honor of those who have given to you. 
3. Lead with kindness. In a world where so many forces may try to bring us down, remember the humanity in each of us and be kind to one another. I started this address by saying that we all have a story. Take time to learn about the stories of those around you and learn what brings us together. 

On behalf of my fellow graduates, thank you to our UT Dallas leadership, President Benson, all our deans, including Dean Pirkul, Dean Powell, and Dean Owens, professors and staff members for your guidance to make the Naveen Jindal School of Management one of the best and brightest on campus. Your service and tireless efforts to make sure that we were successful is appreciated and will always remain with us.

Thank you to all of you for being here to celebrate with us. I would like to thank my mom, sister, Lynn, partner, Jeff, loved ones, classmates and all of the people who have been cheering for me during this journey. I would also like to honor my dad, who passed away nine years ago. I know he has been with me every step of the way, and I will always strive to make him proud. Graduates, I invite you to take a moment and acknowledge everyone that is here for you, in person, on the livestream or in spirit.

Graduates — I hope you are reminded that each of you belong here, with a place in this world to share your story and make a difference. The University of Texas at Dallas has equipped us with knowledge and tools to make the world a greater place than how we found it. Let us all continue writing our stories for a better and brighter future, filled with humanity and service to those around us.

Thank you, everyone, and congratulations to the Class of 2023! Whoosh!

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Karyne Kim Nguyễn was born and raised in North Texas. She received her undergraduate degree from UT Dallas in 2010. Today, she is graduating as a scholar with distinction, with a master’s in business administration and graduate certificate in strategic human resources. She has been involved in several student leadership roles including Professional MBA Ambassador, class representative, member of the Graduate Dean’s Council and secretary of the UTD National Retail Federation. She studied abroad on the MBA International Trip in Dublin, Ireland, receiving an International Education Fund Scholarship. She also volunteers her time with nonprofit organizations and as a commissioner with the City of Carrollton. After graduation, she plans to continue her career leading organizational change.