Energized by retired shuttle astronaut Winston Scott’s riveting keynote remarks about his experiences in space, nearly 2,000 Florida Tech students launched into their new missions Saturday as the university held its 2026 Spring Commencement ceremonies.
Undergraduate, graduate and online students from Florida Tech’s colleges of engineering and science, psychology and liberal arts, aeronautics and business participated in boisterous and exciting commencement ceremonies at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the university’s Clemente Center.
Florida Tech President John Nicklow led the ceremonies and spoke to students about the power of a positive attitude.
“What I like best about attitude is that for all of its outsized impact on our work, our relationships, our reputation, our resilience, our lives – for all of that, the ability and the opportunity to harness attitude is in all of us,” he said.
He continued, “You have already demonstrated a fearless approach to very hard work, to classes that perplex and assignments that test you – and tests that test you, for that matter – so I know you can do this.”
Scott, the retired Navy captain, accomplished jazz trumpeter and 2nd-degree blackbelt in Shotokan karate, captivated the audience as he offered anecdotes from his two mid-1990s shuttle missions that were instrumental to building the International Space Station.
He described being tethered to the shuttle as he tested the cold-temperature protection of a new extravehicular activity spacesuit, spending 45 minutes in subzero darkness and 45 minutes in sunny warmth as the shuttle circled the Earth. He spoke of trying to keep his bearings during a satellite retrieval even as the shuttle’s movements made for a dizzying few moments.
He told the students at each ceremony, “I talk about that event not to highlight my exploits in space but as one example of the amazing and wondrous activities that await each and every one of you.
“We live a time of incredibly exciting, groundbreaking and life-changing opportunities that are yours for the taking,” Scott continued. “No matter your field of study, you can be a part of something wondrous. And it begins here, today, symbolized this commencement event.”
