Kayla Nygaard

Good morning, Class of 2023! What a shock it is to be standing here today, in my gown, speaking to all of you at our graduation ceremony. It feels like just yesterday we were moving into our dorms, shoutout to the Pre-Health Living Learning Community hall. Fast forward some years, I am graduating with a psychology degree, like many other students with high school dreams of becoming a doctor. But hey, isn’t that what college is for? Finding ourselves as we navigate the path to growing up.

Our college years have been full of monumental experiences. Many of us have created lifelong friendships and unforgettable memories. I sit back and think of all the times we became delirious from studying until midnight for our gen chem exam the next morning, or the many, many hours spent in Peer-Led Team Learning. While reminiscing, I can’t help but also think of how college is where we face many challenges and even some of the hardest moments of our lives. This can be for many reasons, whether it’s a major loss in the family, financial hardships, losing friendships, or even failing a class for the first time, and then the second, and third time. These few years have been full of many smiles, and many tears leading us all to this very moment.

Through loss, many failures and having to get back up on my feet again, I learned an invaluable lesson that I want to share with you all. That lesson is that I am worth fighting for. I want everyone to take a moment to say that phrase to yourself; “I am worth fighting for.” Most of you here can relate when I say that we get through life by going through the motions. Getting up every morning because we have to, not because we want to. We attend work and school as a means to an end. When we do this, we give up agency in hopes of gaining relief. The problem with this is that when we relinquish control, it fades into all aspects of our lives. We become so busy with avoiding the here and now, we miss the chance to appreciate all that is around us. So, while this may grant us temporary relief, we miss the opportunity to experience our lives. So, when I say your life is worth fighting for, I mean that life is something we should be actively choosing. Your happiness, education and success should all be something you fight for every single day.

When you leave this ceremony today, I ask that you do two things. The first is that when you have the time, take a moment to appreciate something you would normally take for granted — whether it’s the warmth the coffee brings to your hands’ first thing in the morning, the smell of freshly cut grass as you walk to get the mail or even the hum of music in your car as you sit in traffic on Interstate 35. While these all may seem mundane, when you appreciate the small things every single day, it makes it hard to miss the big things. The second thing I ask is that the next time you go somewhere, whether it be at school, work or something else, set a goal for yourself to be an active participant. Maybe make a goal of coming out of it having learned at least one thing. When we set goals for every encounter, it stops us from getting lost in the crowd once again.

Finally, I want to take a moment to give thanks. Thank you to the amazing professors and staff at UTD for your continued compassion and efforts given to every single student. Thank you to those who came to support your graduates today. It means a lot to us all. Thank you to my mom and sister for being my life vest in the tsunami I call life. Thank you for the unwavering support my friends give me every single day. And lastly, thank you, Dad. I don’t go a day without thinking about you, and this diploma is for you.

To my fellow graduates, don’t let yourself become a spectator of your own life. You’re meant to be the director. As you take the first step into your next chapter, don’t forget that you, too, are worth fighting for. And lastly, congratulations, Class of 2023. You did it! I hope we all will be raising a glass in honor of our hard work and dedication.

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Kayla Nygaard is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Since joining UTD in fall 2019, she has been an active member in her community. She was an undergraduate research assistant and the social chair of the Aging Well Lab, where she studied risky decision-making in different contexts to better understand decision-making throughout adulthood. She also served as an undergraduate teaching assistant for the Research Design and Analysis course. She also worked at Starbucks as a barista trainer, developing her skills in teaching and leadership. After graduation, she plans to enter the research field with a focus on adolescent self-concept and depression. With this experience, she plans to further her education by seeking a PhD in clinical psychology.