Marymount University students closed one chapter on their lives and opened another last week.
The school, located in Arlington, held its graduation ceremonies at D.A.R. Constitution Hall on Mother’s Day. Hundreds of students clad in black robes and mortarboards, along with their family and friends, celebrated the dual occasions.
At Marymount’s undergraduate commencement ceremony, Frank Keating, the former governor of Oklahoma who led the response to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, addressed the students.
He spoke of the distinction between eventful people and event-making people. The former, Keating said, are naturally gifted and live fortuitous lives. "But these people are hard to relate to," he said.
In contrast, anyone can be an event-making person, Keating said. He brought up the example of a Native-American man who, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, fought in the courts to gain constitutional recognition for his people.
"Realize that you will have a moral challenge like this," Keating told the students. "The question is, what will you do?"
Marymount student Lauren Williams also addressed the audience. She implored her fellow students that, as they go out into the world, they should always try to live in the present.
"Take a moment to reflect on how you feel today," she said. "This is a remarkable moment that we are sharing. This moment in time calls for us to rejoice in the fact that we are alive and educated."
She added that "As you stop to breathe during certain moments in your life, remember that there is nowhere else that you are supposed to be other than right here, right now."
Emily Glass is a native Arlingtonian who graduated from Marymount last week. She said that attending Marymount was a great preparation for her career path of kindergarten education.
"The education program at Marymount was really good," Glass said. "We actually got to go into the classrooms and that’s what really made me want to go into teaching."
She also said that she was thrilled to have completed college and that Marymount’s commencement was a fitting end to her time at the school.
"It was a really good graduation ceremony and it made it special for me," Glass said. "I really enjoyed it."