Irma Asfi Murshed

Good afternoon, fellow Comets, family, friends, faculty and staff. Thank you, Dr. Boots, for the kind introduction. I am grateful to Dr. Musselman and Dean Holmes for leading this wonderful ceremony and celebration today.

My name is Irma Asfi Murshed, and I am graduating today with a degree in economics and a minor in criminology. I feel so honored and grateful to be the UTD commencement speaker and send my gratitude to the committee for selecting me today.

To my fellow graduates, congratulations! You have walked your own path to this day. You have overcome obstacles, COVID, challenges in your personal and professional lives, and you have attained a huge accomplishment by reaching this day. You are resilient, you are strong, and you are now starting a new chapter. This is a time for us to reflect on where we have been and look forward to where we will go next.

Today I stand before you a very different woman than the day that I began my college journey. I was born in Bangladesh and immigrated with my family to the U.S. in 2017. Only four short years ago, I set foot in this country with big dreams and many fears of the unknown. It was with the help of new friends who became chosen family, my professors who invested and believed in me, and my extended family here in the States who supported me unconditionally that I stand before you today graduating with an EPPS degree at one of the best universities in the world. I am grateful to my parents and sisters for raising me up toward my goals.

Many of you have overcome your fears as well — some of you are first-generation college graduates; some of you fled your home countries and now call the U.S. your home, others of you came here as international students seeking the best education and will return to your home country. Others of you may have had great privilege, but you have also certainly had challenges and stumbles or moments when you questioned your path.

Life happens to us all during college. We face hard times we could have never imagined. COVID has pushed us all in ways that were unthinkable two short years ago. We have learned how technology can help and hurt us. We have had to set new boundaries to protect our physical and mental health. We have lost people we love and found new joy in the simple moments of being together. There are so many lessons for us to take forward on our own journeys.

Look to your right and look to your left. Who do you see sitting with you, graduates? These are the people who walked the same path as you. Yet we are all so different.

Part of the beauty and the strength of being an EPPS and a UT Dallas student is the diversity from within us. People of all ages, cultures, diverse backgrounds and histories. But we are stronger, better, wiser for knowing each other. From learning from each other inside and outside the classrooms we shared. From our friendships, our service together in the community, from laughing together and struggling together through the past few years, we find we are more similar than different. We are One UT Dallas, and we are Comets United — not just in words, but in life.

We will now represent this great school and our university in all we do professionally. We will also be representing each other, for we share a common bond and those diplomas we will hang proudly on our walls. Let us always remember the life lessons, the stories of realities different than our own, and join in our work to make a better tomorrow.

Thank you to the faculty, administrators and staff who have worked to keep us all safe and healthy while moving us forward to our goals. Without question, it is within these walls of these buildings at UTD that our minds been taught and trained to be fierce and brave. We graduate today prepared and ready for the next step. As the Beatles once sang so eloquently, “All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.”

In closing, today is both an end and a new beginning. Do not let your doubts and fear capture your confidence. Remember that failure is an inevitable stop on the road to success. That you each have already survived a very tough time and you have thrived despite it. Believe in yourself, and do what fills you with passion. As one of my favorite philosophers, René Descartes, once said: “Conquer yourself rather than the world.” And in the process, you will be making a better world for us all.

Congratulations, EPPS Comets! Be fearless.

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Irma Asfi Murshed came to The University of Texas at Dallas from Scholastica in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and is graduating today summa cum laude with a bachelor’s in economics with a minor in criminology. While in high school, she was awarded the Daily Star Award of Excellence for her academic performance in the O’ Levels Examination under British Council. She joined UT Dallas in the fall of 2019 and received a Comet Transfer Scholarship every semester by maintaining her merits and qualifications. She has been on the Dean’s List for consecutive semesters. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s and PhD in economics along with a mix of other social sciences.