Amri Carrasco

Good afternoon, Comets! My name is Amri Carrasco, and I’m honored to speak with you today. I’m delighted to join you in celebrating the end to one of the many chapters in our lives. I hope you can look back on your time at UTD as worthwhile and enriching, and that this school will always have a special meaning for you.

While we are all here to celebrate our graduation, I’m sure that our reasons for attending UTD were diverse, and I’m certain the degree paths we chose were even more varied. I personally came here for the quick commute! You may have chosen your degree because it sounded the most interesting, or because it would be easy. Perhaps many of you chose this path because you hoped it would lead to a lucrative career.

Now, I could stand here and tell you my story of struggle and perseverance. I could tell you that now that you’ve graduated everything is going to work out. But instead, while we’re together today, I want us to do something different. I want us to reflect on who we really are. And to begin, I want to ask you something. Do you want to be successful? You can answer me. Raise your hand if you want to be successful.

Look around! We’re all looking for this idea, this quality, out in the world. We all want to be able to say that we have succeeded. Of course we do! What is success, though? In America, I see a huge drive for success in terms of material items. When we talk about the American dream, it includes nice cars, big houses and rugged individualism. I think this version of success is fine and may work for some people. But our society places it on a pedestal it doesn’t deserve.

Instead of this focus on material success, I want to talk about a different definition of success. And it starts with self-actualization. In other words, it starts with asking yourself, “Who am I?” So, who are you?What are your values and how do you uphold them? If your answer to “Who am I?” is just “a graduate,” you may want to reflect a little more deeply on yourself! Too often our standards of success ignore our inner qualities, and we get fulfillment confused with achievement. There’s nothing wrong with achievement. But should we define ourselves by a job title or a price tag on our house, when within ourselves there is an immeasurable quality that defines us more than our jobs ever could?

I am a first-generation college student. I finished high school from a hospital bed. I went through chemotherapy during the beginning of the pandemic. How do I hold these things in my hands to show my value to the world? If I compared what I physically had to other people and felt like a lesser human being, wouldn’t that be sad?

The person that you are is unique. How could you not be? To confine our definition of success to a six-figure salary — to dismiss our personal accomplishments as the trips we can afford — sets us up for disappointment. There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but to what end? Take messages about toiling for material success with a grain of salt. In your conversations with peers, I’m sure you have heard strange bragging contests about lack of sleep or long hours worked. For what purpose do we work ourselves to death? Shouldn’t your hard work be committed to the growth of you as a beautiful and unique person? In coming up with a better definition of success, we can’t forget there is more to it than just you. If you ever do get the dream job with the dream salary, what about the family and friends by your side?

Americans love to mythologize underdog stories of self-made millionaires. But let’s face it, those people are few and far between. Most people are not self-made. You are a reflection of all the people who have touched your life and helped build you. My parents taught me that real love and care takes work, commitment and communication. All that I am comes from their love. All that I am comes from my sister, my fiancé and my friends. These relationships enrich me, comfort me, educate me and, in a very real way, define me. Your interactions with others, at home and at work, will be the difference between misery and happiness throughout your life.

When we walk out of here today, we may never see one another again. Leave here today knowing that you are a complex individual with so much room to grow. Remember that our success doesn’t need to be wholly defined by the standards society has set for us. Many of you will achieve great material success and make your families and yourselves proud. You’ve been blessed with an excellent education. Use it to leave an impact on the world, to innovate, to break new ground, to make the world better. In your career, as in your personal life, you will find opportunities to change the lives of others. But don’t forget to change your own: to grow into who you are and to cherish the people who made you a unique individual beginning a journey that only you will ever take.

Thank you, and congratulations, Class of 2023.

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Amri Carrasco received her associate degree from Collin College in 2021 and transferred to UT Dallas, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with summa cum laude honors in summer 2023. Carrasco plans to complete her master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at UT Dallas in spring 2024. She will pursue a career in academia with the goal of becoming a community college instructor who encourages a love of learning in students. Her main aspiration is to design a relationship science course, which she hopes will inspire people to value and understand their connections to others.