Michael Le
“While these rapid changes can be scary at times, we must remember that our creativity, ability to connect with each other and individual passions will guide us in successfully shaping the technologies that define our world.”
– Michael Le
Good morning, friends, family and faculty, and most importantly the graduating Class of 2023! It is my distinct honor to commemorate this special event with you.
I would first like to thank my parents, as these are the two people who have supported and sacrificed for me my entire life.
Graduates: For the last several years, we’ve been giving full effort in all of our tasks to make it to this special day. It’s crazy to reminisce about how we were once naive individuals, roaming the halls of the Jindal School for the first time, not knowing the difference between JSOM 1 and JSOM 2 and getting lost while trying to find our classes. Don’t lie — it happened to all of us.
Our Class of 2023 is special; having just finished our first semester of fall 2019, our lives did a 180 with the COVID outbreak in spring 2020. I want to highlight the strength of our class. Our experience is something that defines us. The ability to exhibit a vast amount of persistence while having the willingness to adapt to a new environment makes it evident that our class has something imitable.
Although COVID had a detrimental impact on our lives, it created something beautiful as its byproduct: intrinsic resilience. When I refer to this “intrinsic resilience,” I am talking about our human nature to come together and support one another during times of adversity. I want everyone to recall going from in-person group work to online. Although it wasn’t intuitive, everyone, both undergrad and graduate students, came together and found collaborative solutions to finish our tasks.
Similarly, everyone in this audience also found out they were resilient. You probably found yourself in a new environment, collaborating with individuals to reach a common goal or to overcome a problem. The phrase “blessing in disguise” resonates with me here as this intrinsic resilience not only made all of us stronger, but it built a greater bond among us.
The bond that we created as students is based on a multitude of diversities. It is the driving factor behind our reputation and inclusive culture at the Jindal School. Everyone who is sitting here today has made UTD a better place by contributing their authentic individuality: whether it’s from participating in organizations or movements, or taking part in class, you have made this a better place.
Furthermore, I want to point out the relationships and experiences we have had while at UT Dallas — meeting new classmates every semester, study sessions with friends that last until early morning, or even just talks while walking to class. The list goes on, but these experiences created invaluable memories. These experiences are the ones that make our accomplishments so worthwhile. These experiences are the ones that helped shape the identity of today’s graduating class.
I congratulate all of the students for their hard work and their successes. But none of this would have been possible without the guidance of professors and staff. Speaking on behalf of the student body, we would like to thank all of these people at UTD for making this dream possible.
The next individuals that I would like to mention are the ones behind me. These individuals work extremely hard for the students, and the recognition they deserve is often left unspoken. They are like the superheroes in movies who work behind the scenes to leave an everlasting impact on future generations. We would like to thank each and every one of you for your individual contribution to our amazing journey.
Thank you to everyone who came out today. We couldn’t have done this without you! Every ounce of support you have given has helped. We celebrate today as we begin a new chapter.
Lastly, graduates, I wish you the best in your future endeavors. I can’t wait to see the great things you’ll do in life and, as always … Go Comets! Whoosh!
Michael Le is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. During his undergraduate years, he has participated in case study competitions, cultural organizations and interned at several companies including PwC, USAA and KPMG. After graduation he will join JP Morgan Chase as a software engineer.