Jayraj Mehulkumar Dave

Esteemed professors, honored guests, graduates, and my dear friends, congratulations to you, your family and friends who supported you. We are here.

I really wanted to be the speaker at the commencement ceremony because during my time here, I was more active in finishing academics and running back to my apartment to sleep; so much so that I regret not participating enough in on-campus activities. So here I am recompensating for that.

I wasn’t sure what to add in this commencement speech. I asked around for suggestions and was told that I could talk about how this University has made a difference in my life. I was making a checklist and realized that this University has helped me achieve many things. A first-world educational experience, a master’s degree, and a job among many other things. But hey, although these are very important things, I was more curious about how this University has added value in a more humane aspect. And the answer is a strong sense of gratitude. Yes, this University has taught me how to be grateful.

As graduates, we come from many different backgrounds and countries. For me, I come from a humble background in a developing country where very few in my family have been able to pursue something that I have. The idea that I am studying in a campus which spans across 450 acres and has 50 years of rich heritage in itself was astonishing to me. Just like many of you might have, I faced a lot of challenges, like juggling between on-campus job and academic commitments, and all that while searching for a full-time job and missing having sweet mangoes with family back home. But this great institute enabled me to manage all of this, and thus the best thing I have carried away from this experience is the sense of gratitude.

I’d like to take this opportunity and narrate an incident from the late Steve Jobs’ life. He once asked his partner, “Who do you think is the most influential person in the world?” His partner was surprised by Steve’s random question. He responded with a name of a famous personality of his time who was driving a mass movement and had a huge number of followers. He added, “Why would you ask me such a random question? Who do you think is the most influential person?” Steve Jobs answered, “A person who has got a story to tell is the most influential person in the world.”

I feel absolutely honored and privileged to be able to commence these special batches. Yes, we are no ordinary batch. We have graduated in some of the toughest times humanity has seen in the modern world, and that makes us great storytellers. The story of how, against all the odds, we all have been resilient and have kept pursuing our dreams. Being one of you, I am certain – we are the toughest crowd out there that is graduating and have got amazing stories of resilience, perseverance and mental strength. We have stories of how companies stopped hiring, job offers were revoked, our loved ones suffered far away, yet we kept thriving and continued pursuing our dreams, ambitions and goals. Please give yourself a round of applause.

Again, many congratulations to you and all those people who supported you in this amazing journey. Keep sharing your stories with the world. Whoosh!

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Jayraj Mehulkumar Dave came to The University of Texas at Dallas in August 2019 from Ahmedabad University in India, and graduated with a master’s degree in information and technology management. While studying on-campus, he was a Dean’s Excellence Scholar, worked as a student staff member in Blackstone LaunchPad, volunteered in organizing the student career fair, and, along with performing his poetry at various open-mics in UTD, he won the Diversity Poetry Slam Competition. In spring 2020, he worked as an intern at Fidelity Investments, where he later was hired as an IT audit analyst and continues to be employed there.