From the
Heights
10
Antonio Galvan of Detroit was chosen by his classmates to speak to the Class of 2001 at the main
campus Commencement. He prepared his speech with assistance from his high school track coach,
Patrick Irwin ‘86, and long-time friend, Diego Gomez. The speech is excerpted below.
Welcome to this day of celebration, where
dreams come true, promises are fulfilled
and the future begins. Our journey began
from very different backgrounds and paths.
Many of us here today are non-traditional
students who have walked Robert Frost’s
“Road Less Traveled” by doing things such
as raising a family, holding a full-time job
or taking classes whenever and wherever
they fit into the schedule of life. Others, like
myself, were blessed with the opportunity
as traditional students to attend school fulltime and experience living and learning in
the residence halls. No matter what path
you traveled, no matter what road map you
used, no matter how many times you were
lost, had to stop for directions, or retrace
your path, we have all successfully arrived
at the destination of our hard work: the time
of graduation.
Today the fulfillment of hopes, goals and
dreams that each of us established many,
many days ago meets the reality of graduation. Hope and aspirations are like the sails
of a tall sailing ship that sets to journey at
sea through the powerful winds and currents
of hard work.
The other day, Brother Frank Rotsaert, professor of English on Siena’s main campus,
stopped to talk to me. I am not sure how we
started talking about my plans after college
or how we even began our conversation,
since I have never had a class with him.
(In fact, when I was a younger student,
Brother Frank intimidated me because of his
reputation as a tough grader and demanding professor.) During our conversation, I
told him I planned to relax after graduation
because my classroom deadlines would be
completed, the pressure of studying would
be gone, and I could start leading a funfilled life. After all, this is the main reason
we attended college, right? Brother Frank
looked at me as only a bemused professor
could and laughed loudly. Had I said something funny? Brother Frank looked at me
again and said, “So you think once college
is over, the world has no more deadlines
or stress?” Brother Frank laughed again,
much louder, and stated while walking
away, “Young man, your journey in life is
only beginning.”
With Brother Frank’s comments in mind,
I began to think of all my experiences and
the things I have learned at Siena Heights.
And from this reflection, I summarized the
top five most important things I feel we
have learned during our studies at Siena
Heights.