Graduate student speaker Kendall Burks, who earned Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from WashU’s Medical Scientist Training Program, delivered a message to the Class of 2025 at Washington University in St. Louis during the May 12 Commencement ceremony on Francis Olympic Field.
Welcome and thank you all. Before I begin, could I ask you all to join me in thanking the huge amount of staff that have worked so hard to put this beautiful event together to celebrate us.
I have to admit, I struggled a lot figuring out what to say in this speech, especially at this particular moment in time when the future feels more uncertain to us than it ever has before. But when I reflect on what’s helped me through past challenges on this long road to graduation, my mind returns to the many people who make our training possible. Our grade school teachers and undergraduate professors helped us find the careers we were meant to pursue. Our educators across the graduate and professional schools have prepared us to tackle those careers. On the Medical Campus, many faculty are actively taking care of sick patients but will still calmly explain the nephron to me for the one-thousandth time. I am not nearly smart enough to be a kidney doctor. ICU nurses help us draw blood, pharmacists debrief antibiotics and social workers and therapists help us think more critically about safely discharging patients. For those of us doing research, mentors and teammates calmly and patiently help us learn to collect quality data that guide evidence-based decisions. Through it all, countless administrative staff make sure we are in the right place at the right time. And I’m lucky that my family, and my friends who are like family, have made the last eight years worth doing all over again.
We all have these vibrant and strong learning communities that include dedicated faculty, staff and peers across the university, from law and continuing studies to engineering and social work. And these communities have empowered you all to do some amazing things. Out of eight years’ worth of WashU events, my favorite was a panel hosted in The Graduate Center, where graduate and professional students shared how they found purpose from applying what they’re learning in the classroom to meaningful real-world projects. Maybe you’re a visual arts student at Sam Fox who helped design and install sculptures in St. Louis parks. Maybe you’re a business student at Olin who worked to enhance the digital presence of Black- and Brown-owned small businesses. The list of your accomplishments, empowered by your own learning communities, goes on and on.
So why is now the right time, the perfect opportunity, to run the list of people who have helped you achieve your goals? Because you and I and all these people we carry with us have worked too hard to let our education be a victim of circumstance. Circumstance is temporary. In middle school, my dad lost his sales job during the Great Recession, and we lost our car, our house and everything in it. In high school, my mom died, and I couldn’t fathom why the world had to lose a person whose trademark saying was, ‘It takes just as much energy to be kind as it does to be mean.’ Standing here would have been impossible if it weren’t for that long list of people I told you about. They’ve carried me. And you will all carry one another (if you’re my best friend, maybe literally), even through this moment in history and other challenges that will surely follow. I wish I could tell you exactly what you need to do to overcome the specific obstacles you will face in your personal and professional lives. I just know that because we are walking across the stage this weekend, we’ve already shown that we are capable of figuring things out, together. In the words of Maya Angelou, ‘You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.’
She is also attributed with the following: ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ I know you all won’t remember who I am or what I said, especially when there are literal legends on this stage. But my goal for this speech is to make you feel like you will continue to accomplish what you set out to do, even when it feels impossible.
Whether your work takes you to an office, a courtroom, a hospital or a classroom, carry these values with you: kindness, even when it’s hard; resilience, even when you feel uncertain; and the deep belief that we are here to lift each other up. With the world-class education you’ve received here at WashU, you don’t just have the ability, but the responsibility to shape the world you want to see — and the one our communities deserve.
Thank you all for the privilege of learning alongside you.
Read Chancellor Andrew Martin’s message to the Class of 2025.
Read undergraduate student speaker Elijah Darden’s address.
Read Commencement speaker Simone Biles’ remarks here.
