Fatima Rehman
Despite everything, we stayed resilient, determined and courageous, qualities that will take us far in our careers.
– Fatima Rehman
To the esteemed professors and faculty and our beloved friends and family in the audience, thank you for joining us today.
Graduates, it is a great honor to be here before you. Within the next hour or so, we will all leave the auditorium as official alumni of The University of Texas at Dallas.
Each one of us has different backgrounds, different struggles and different goals. For many of us, completing our degree was not an easy task. This is a momentous occasion, truly. After all, look at what we have overcome in the last two years alone — an ongoing global pandemic, a catastrophic power grid failure and winter storms, an immense amount of civil unrest, and pretty much anything else you saw trending on Twitter. Despite everything, we stayed resilient, determined and courageous, qualities that will take us far in our careers. We also found ways to be there for one another. From late-night study groups and pre-exam jitters to the camaraderie of course curves, we created communities that felt like home away from home.
While looking at the degrees offered within the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, I noticed that every student graduating today has been required to take a physics or a calculus course at some point in their academic career. So, who better to quote than the man many of you have grown to love (or hate), Sir Isaac Newton. In a letter to Robert Hook, he wrote: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” We all have giants that come to mind. Whether it be amazing professors who helped you find your passion, mentors who took a chance on you even if you didn’t think you deserved one, or parents who came to this country with $50, the clothes on their backs, and a dream for their futures and yours. If your giants are here today, give them a wave.
To the professors of UT Dallas, thank you for providing the groundwork and inspiration for the next generation of innovators. Thank you for fostering our growth and passing on your wisdom as we navigated through the vast field of science.
To my family, thank you for your unwavering support and grace as I reached this milestone. Every achievement I have ever made, I owe to you.
I think it’s fair to say that the biggest giant of all has been The University of Texas at Dallas, for providing us all with the opportunities, friendships and memories to last our lifetimes.
We leave today with our diplomas in our hands and our futures in front of us. Wherever your next step is, there will be an opportunity to be a giant for someone else. As a mentor, as a coworker, as a friend, even as a first-generation student in your family. You have the chance to leave this world better than you have found it, just as you have made UTD a greater university and UTD has shaped us into the people we are today. Thank you UTD for allowing us to see further.
And congratulations to the fall Class of 2022! We did it!
Fatima Rehman is graduating today with a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology. During her time at UT Dallas, she has served as an Orientation Leader, an undergraduate teaching assistant for Eukaryotic Molecular and Cell Biology, an SI leader for Calculus Based Physics, and an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Heather Hayenga’s Vascular Mechanobiology Lab. She also has served as an officer and president for the UTD Lemon Club, an organization raising funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer.