Well, looks like we made it! Feels like it went by so fast but in reality we spent years of real life being here and studying and defying odds and overcoming adversity all so we could reach this one moment. For that, we have EARNED our flowers. 

I was talking with my mother the other day and she asked me what word I would use to describe myself…and that word was undefeatable. I began explaining that no matter how hard the problem is that I am facing, I won't stop until the job is done…and that's how I would describe the class of 2023.

WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE.

Say it with me, WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE.

Many people have traveled all the way to the Guilford campus on this beautiful Saturday morning and you might be wondering, what does the word undefeatable have to do with commencement?  Here’s how it applies.

Freshman Year
We are all excited and having the time of our lives running around campus exploring, learning, growing, being great…right? Yall remember. We had great events and the campus was lively and things were going well. We had that one class that raised some eyebrows, but it wasn’t enough to hold us back from having a good time! We collaborated with our family and friends to plan out the perfect spring break and off we went. HALFWAY IN, IT GOT BETTER. The school sends us an email saying we're having an EXTENDED SPRING BREAK!!! Well, that was short lived. COVID19 put us in the back seat and kept us away from enjoying the end of our freshman year, finishing the semester online and getting acclimated to using zoom for classes, meetings, everything.
But, “this change won't last forever”, we said. “We’ll be back to college life in no time”, we said. We took a hit but kept fighting…WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE.

Sophomore Year

We’re kind of confused but many of us are optimistic about the year. If you moved back on campus, you were in for a surprise for sure! If you were a commuter, in for a big surprise and, well now there's a third option… I know right, there were never three options. Now you can…go virtual? We went from going to school all year with a couple thousand people to being able to be thousands of miles away for class …ALL YEAR. That challenged us all and the look of the campus took a hit. Students were tested for Covid weekly and could get written up for too much contact with one another and whew, the world was shaken up…but we adapted, and we thrived…WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE.

Junior Year

At this point we have made it to year three, we’ve been through a lot but we’re coming out of it. Covid is slowing up, things are finally starting to get back to normal. We have in person classes now!! I know it doesn't sound that exciting but when you've been forced to adopt online learning, the thought of being able to interact with people that are actually present is mind blowing! however, there was a catch…the mask. Oh we ALL loved our masks didn’t we, yet, we were willing to make that sacrifice in exchange for the ability to move freely and see people in the physical form. We finally found somewhat of a balance and then our campus took a hit…the loss of a beloved Quaker.

It wouldn’t be right to make this speech without paying respect to Ahmad Brewington. His loss put our campus at the lowest we had ever been. He was such a loving, caring, intelligent and passionate man that knew how to make a difference in the world. He was extremely active on campus and chances are he’s had a positive impact on each and every one of us whether you felt it directly or experienced through one of the many lives that he touched. He had a glowing, infectious smile, he protected those around him whether he knew you or not, and believed in right is right and wrong is wrong…and lived by it. His name will continue to walk with us as we complete this journey of school. His loss hurt…but we did exactly what he would have wanted, be true to who we are and finish the mission. This loss brought us closer together and the love that he poured into this campus showed itself in the most beautiful way possible. UNITY. We used this unity to push to be better and to show the world that WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE.
Love you, Ahmad.

Senior Year

That leaves us at the magical senior year, when everything that we had learned and been through throughout our first three years is shown in the form of final projects, presentations, applications, just to name a few. We wanted to go out with a bang…and that we did. We watched our college experience fall apart piece by piece, one thing after another…but we didn’t accept th
at. We got back up and rebuilt our campus back into the thriving, lively place that we witnessed when we got here 4 years ago. Throughout all of the adversity we kept pushing to be the best that we could be. We REFUSED to stay down. REFUSED to be beaten. REFUSED to accept…defeat.

We earned every bit of these degrees and deserve to be happy and enjoy this moment. I’m proud of us.  Give it up for you! *claps*
Maya Angelou once said, “While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.”

We are strong! We are powerful! And most importantly…

“WE ARE UNDEFEATABLE”