Editor’s Note: For transparency purposes, Dr. Erica Salkin is The Whitworthian’s adviser.
With the 2023 commencement ceremony rapidly approaching, it is time to get to know this year’s keynote speakers, Savannah Hayward and Isabel Iral, along with the faculty keynote speaker, Erica Salkin.
The graduating class of 2023 has definitely had a unique academic experience due to the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic, forcing these students to shift to virtual and hybrid learning formats.
This class has truly had to practice resilience and positivity while at Whitworth and the speakers have chosen to incorporate these virtues in their commencement speeches.
Savannah Hayward, a communications major and marketing coordinator for the English Department, shared what speaking at commencement means to her.
“Words cannot adequately describe what an honor it is to be chosen to speak at commencement,” Hayward said. “Not only does this feel like everything I have been training for as a communications student, but I feel so much pride in being able to represent my department and this community.”
Hayward hopes to encourage the audience to “dream big and dare to believe those dreams can come true.”
Isabel Iral, a health science major and member of the H.E.A.T. team shared that her speech will incorporate unique things she found within Whitworth and how over time she became better at work-life balance.
“I used to be a really big planner and always focus on school, but I feel like I learned how to balance that with having fun,” Iral said. “There’s a lot of great people I’ve met at Whitworth and fond memories that I’ve made with professors or different clubs and organizations and I wanted to capture that.”
Iral praised the fact that Whitworth students get to celebrate their graduation in the Pine Bowl saying that “when you’re done with graduation, you can spill out into the loop instead of everyone going into the space inside to greet each other. It feels more personal that we get to graduate where we’ve been going to school for the past four years.”
Professor Erica Salkin weighed in on how she felt about being selected as the faculty speaker for commencement.
“It’s exciting but also a little intimidating to think about facing so many people…” Salkin said. “We’re all brought together because we’re celebrating this commencement. This means very different things to all the folks in the crowd and then all their loved ones and crafting a message that is going to resonate and be meaningful and important and reflect the importance of the day, that’s a very big task.”
Salkin wants to remind graduates that they should not worry about their impact post-graduation.
“It can be overwhelming in sort of the large needs of the world to wonder, how do I make an impact,” Salkin said. “How do I improve things? And a reminder that it’s the small act of defending your convictions and remembering the skills that you’ve gained over the past three to four years and how they’ve prepared you to make that impact in all sorts of different ways.”
