Connor Lennox Lowe
Understand that circumstances will not always be picture perfect; but how you overcome those circumstances is what matters. When I say there’s no such thing as too much character, that is because there is an infinite number of challenges that life will throw at us.
– Connor Lennox Lowe
Thank you, President Benson, Provost Musselman, Dean Pirkul, and distinguished guests. And hello, UT Dallas graduates, faculty, family and friends! I’m both humbled and honored to speak before you today. First off, congratulations! The degrees that we are receiving today are not only certifications of the effort and dedication that we have put into our education, but also a reminder that through determination and perseverance, we can accomplish the most daunting of tasks.
As we continue forward with our lives, pursuing new careers and passions, I want to leave you with three crucial pieces of wisdom that I’ve gained through my experiences in college.
First and foremost, do not forget where you came from. College is heavily viewed as a catalyst for the expansion of your mind and worldview. You go from this little bubble that you’ve grown up in, whether it’s your family, your friends or your hometown, and you venture forth into what seems to be this never-ending expanse of thought and culture. I encourage you to seek out and learn about new cultures and lifestyles and appreciate just how much you didn’t know and how much you still do not know. But do not forsake the things that brought you here. Who we are comes from who we once were. Each step forward comes from the step previously taken; and to ignore the journey you’ve made is to walk an unmarked path.
Secondly, there is no such thing as too much character. When I moved back to Dallas in the midst of the pandemic with my best friend, I found myself in the worst living situation I’ve experienced to date. It was in August when the average temperature outside was above 100 degrees, and thanks to an air-conditioning unit my landlord never fixed, it was just about the same inside as well. My friend and I barely had enough money to make rent for the semester. We took classes in this heat, slept in this heat, and because we didn’t have an in-unit washer and dryer, our only sense of relief was when we got to study at the nearby laundry mat for a few hours. Finally, I’d had enough and called my dad. I told him that I didn’t want to live there anymore and that I would rather use whatever I had left in my bank account to break my contract and move onto campus. He taught me a very important lesson that day. He said to me, “Son, these experiences are a part of life. There are going to be times like the one you’re experiencing now, and these are crucial moments. Remember, despite everything else, you are the company you keep. You have your best friend and your girlfriend there as support. That’s better than any nice apartment or home you’ll find yourself in.”
My father decided to go back and get his J.D. when I was in the first grade. He woke up at 5 a.m., got my brother and I to the bus stop, went to school downtown, came back, made the family dinner, took my brother and I to our after-school practices, and even coached. Then he would come home and study until 2 a.m. and do it all over again, all while my mother, a public-school teacher, was supporting us on her salary alone, even teaching summer school to scrounge up every last dollar we could get our hands on. When I was looking for a famous quote defining character, I realized that I had known the living embodiments of it my whole life. Understand that circumstances will not always be picture perfect; but how you overcome those circumstances is what matters. When I say there’s no such thing as too much character, that is because there is an infinite number of challenges that life will throw at us.
Life is fluid, not rigid. This is my final point. Each and every one of us here has had a unique path. In this group are graduates of PhD programs, master’s programs and bachelor’s programs — all on a different journey, but remarkably, coming to the same resting point today. I encourage you to acknowledge the astounding circumstances we have found ourselves in, and also note the immeasurable number of unique and shared experiences amongst you and your fellow graduates.
Lastly, I would like to give thanks. Thank you, God, for continuing to push me forward on this path. And on behalf of all graduates, let’s thank our families for their continued support, our scholarship donors for their assistance in our financial freedom, and our cocurricular activities for the distractions that they gave us from our schoolwork. Lastly, I would like to personally thank my wife, for listening to every single aspiration I’ve ever had and supporting each one of them.
Connor Lennox Lowe came to The University of Texas at Dallas from Tom C. Clark High School in San Antonio. He is graduating cum laude with a degree in marketing. A student in the 2019 class of Terry Scholars, he made the dean’s list. During his time at UT Dallas, he served as a supplemental instruction leader for microeconomics, volunteered as a service coordinator for the Terry Scholars Program and was the marketing coordinator for the UT Dallas Rugby Club. He also was involved in the Leadership Council for the Professional Program in Marketing. After graduation, he will continue his career as a data analyst for MoneyGram International.